


Sky Above, Ground Below

by TribalVipe



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Crash Landing, F/M, Mutual Pining, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2018-12-24 10:41:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12011028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TribalVipe/pseuds/TribalVipe
Summary: After a plane crash leaves them wounded and disoriented, Liv and Rafael fight to survive their way back to civilization with little supplies and decaying hope.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Thank you to everyone who continuously reads and comments on my fics and also, put up with me starting a new one every other month. I know I have tons of unfinished fics, and I'm working on all of them, but when a plot bunny emerges, it cannot be ignored. This one is, again, different from what I've written before, but not really. I don't own SVU or it's characters but I do own the fact that I love to torture the hell out of them. ENJOY!

“I’ve never been to New Hampshire.”

“Really?”

 Liv looked to Rafael questioningly as she slung her purse over her shoulder. Her phone buzzed with a picture message of her son’s smiling face smeared with what looked like ketchup. She smiled sadly, knowing she wasn’t going to be home well into the morning, but that was what the job required.

Unfortunately, that meant hoping on a jet plane to Manchester, New Hampshire to try and catch up with a runner who was, more or less, holding one of their witnesses captive. Captive may have not been the correct word, because she’d gone willingly, but 1PP was beyond caring at that point. Had this been any other case, they would have shoved it off to the Feds or Manchester PD to ship his ass back to the city, but Liv had grown a special bond with Emily, the victim, and was likely the only one that could bring her home while also catching her rapist and racist boyfriend.

It was the perfect opportunity and Chief Dodds had no problem thrusting her right into it. Of course, it was a testament to how much she could handle and how well she could get the job done, so his demand that she drop everything she was doing to take a three-hour flight to New Hampshire was cushioned.

Plus, she wasn’t alone in this endeavor.

Rafael Barba was her back up, armed with the law and a hell of way of talking to people. She didn’t mind the company, though. Not in the least. He’d been roped in last minute when she mentioned his name and Dodds skillfully talked the D.A. into it.

Barba hadn’t been all that pleased, but he went along with it anyway. He packed several files and some paperwork to enjoy while they flew, although Liv hoped he wouldn’t work on it the entire way there. There was no way she was going to be bored to tears in a little jet and she had nothing but her phone, badge and her purse.

Besides, conversations with Barba about anything other than work always proved to be entertaining. She loved it when he joked around with her and they exchanged stories from their past, but she wouldn’t ever admit to it. Just like he wouldn’t admit to purposely going out of his way to make her smile.

“Weird, I know. I’ve been to every surrounding state, but there.”

“Well, it’s your lucky day.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed and trailed behind her, sipping his latte, “Tracking a runner all the way to a different state on a three-hour charter flight isn’t my idea of fun.”

Liv glanced over her shoulder, still typing out a text to Lucy, “Look at it this way. You get to see New Hampshire on a private jet payed for by the NYPD. How many ADA’s get to do that?”

She had a point and he knew it. Not many officers could even say that and Liv sometimes marveled at all she’d been able to do through this career. The people she’s met, helped, tracked down…even all the negatives seemed worth it in the end. Having such a supportive team was the cherry on top.

They walked through LaGuardia, which wasn’t as busy on a mid-morning Tuesday like she had hoped it wouldn’t be. That would make this experience even better if they could get through TSA and on their plane in under an hour. Unfortunately, it took a little over two after she had to verify her weapon and badge number, which took way longer than it should have.

“This is already stressing me out,” she murmured as they walked out of a separate door where their jet was waiting on the strip. The sun shone bright outside, betraying the slight breeze blowing in. It was rather cold for the beginning of September, but after a grueling summer, she welcomed the change in weather.

“Don’t say that until we’re sitting in a precinct with a bunch of detectives we don’t know, trying to find this guy.”

“That’s not helping, Barba.”

She sent him a withering glare, but he merely smiled brightly. At least he was having somewhat of a good time. It was rare when she saw him smile, and when he did, it was usually because he was feeling at ease, which was the exact opposite of the way she felt. She was a bundle of nerves the closer they got to the small jet.

She could see a large man with grey hair talking on the phone, leaning against the railing of the stairs that were pulled out. Overhead, planes were taking off and landing and for a moment, she wondered how the hell they were even going to take off.

It was true, she wasn’t a fan of flying, but she would gladly have stepped onto a commercial liner rather than this tiny jet they saw fit to get them to their destination. It was faster, more convenient and probably on a contract with the city, but still, the thought of being up in the air in such a tiny plane was troubling to her. She gripped the phone in her hand and swallowed, trying to calm the anxiety threatening to consume her.

They went unnoticed until their pilot spotted them and waved at them, smiling big. Liv could barely make out his words as the loud planes landing and taking off drowned out any other noise. Liv held out her hand and shook his waiting one, “Didn’t catch that.”

“Just introducing myself. I’m Ralph and I’ll be flying you today. Got a big case, I understand it?”

“Yes,” Liv thanked him as he helped her up into the small plane. Barba followed behind, ducking his head to enter. Ralph climbed in, shutting and locking the door behind him. He prattled around, getting the plane ready for takeoff while simultaneously rambling about something or another. Rafael stopped paying attention the moment he spotted the mini fridge towards the back of the plane.

“You fly a lot for the NYPD?”

“Somewhat. I get a call every now and then but not often. Usually, it’s for some important people, but never really for an active investigation. So, this exciting!”

Ralph patted her on the shoulder as he walked past but visibly tensed and stopped. He rubbed at his chest and Liv noticed the sheen of sweat covering his face. It was odd, considering they were headed into September and the hot weather had dropped considerably for this time of year. In fact, he looked pale, although she had to remind herself she didn’t know this man.

“You ok?”

Rafael looked up from where he was helping himself to a small amount of whiskey, which was all that was stocked besides some soda and a few bottles of water. He, too, noticed the odd look on the man’s face, but it passed and he waved them both off, “Just some heartburn. I need to lay off the spicy food.”

He slapped his burly stomach and shimmied his way into the cockpit. Liv chuckled, even catching a small smirk from Barba at the joke. The seat belt light turned on and she easily strapped herself in. She took a deep breath and exhaled and switched her phone into airplane mode.

“Water?”

She grabbed the bottle in Barba’s hand and watched as he settled himself into his seat, pulling his brief case close to his body. She eyed his whiskey and couldn’t help but smirk as he took a hefty gulp. Even if he seemed like he was two seconds away from turning into a total grump, she couldn’t help but find his company much needed.

She always enjoyed his company, even when it wasn’t related to work.

They listened to Ralph’s voice filtering over the speaker directly above their heads, reminding them of the standard flight procedures that had to take place. Liv drifted off during the explanation, having been through this countless times and tried to preoccupy herself with the way Barba sat next to her, sipping his drink and reading an E-Mail message that required attention before they took off.

Seeing him at ease helped with her unease about the situation, but so did the cute way his tongue poked out between his lips as he quickly typed a lengthy explanation back. She pretended to be staring at the floor by his feet when he looked over at her, but she knew he caught her eyes staring at him.

She was worried about that. Bringing him and only him was dangerous with nothing else to distract her until they touched down in Manchester, and she cursed Dodds for doing this to her. Although, the Chief had no inkling about her growing feelings and she prayed to God he never would.

_Stop thinking. Read your magazine and shut up._

As they taxied down the strip, she settled in with some lifestyle magazine she’d bought after they were cleared by security and preoccupied herself with the article on child care advice as the took to the skies, leaving the city behind.

* * *

They hadn’t broken out the file on the case until their flight was almost over.

Rafael had napped, surprisingly, and for longer than he thought possible. Liv had followed suit after the fact, because she was still reading when he dozed off.  He woke her up with a simple call of her name as he rubbed his eyes while he peaked out of the window to see the thick forests thousands of miles below them, something he very rarely ever got to see in person.

“How long were we out?”

Rafael zeroed in on the small screen hanging above the cockpit door, displaying their flight path and the current time. He did the math, “We still have 45 minutes. Not long.”

“I’ve never been paid to nap before. They need to send us on cases like this more often,” she yawned and stretched, popping and cracking her back and neck. Rafael watched with fascination and coughed when he was caught staring.

“Speak for yourself. I have loads of work to do still. We should go over some information so we’re fresh for the Chief when we get there.”

He sent her a half-hearted glare when she rolled her eyes, but he slid the file from his briefcase easily, having it at the ready so he could study. There wasn’t that much to go over, since they had weeks on this case before hand, but he had yet to fully dive deep into their suspect thanks to all the warrant grabbing he had to do. Never in his career had he had a suspect give him this much chaos before.

“There’s not much more. We sent the APB out to Manchester PD, and other than the fact that he’s a former lawyer, an extremely good bull-shitter and has a swastika tattooed on his back, there’s not much more we know. Emily tried to block our investigation and that cost us time to learn this guy.

“Ok. So, he’s a manipulative racist with an understanding of the law. Good. I enjoy a challenge.”

Liv scoffed, “By the end of our meeting, you’ll be wanting to slam his head into a wall. I had to physically restrain Fin during the interrogation. Fin! He’s one of the calmest people I know.”

Rafael frowned at that tidbit. He couldn’t place it, but he felt a growing pit of dread in his stomach that had started the moment they took off. He tried to rationalize it by pinning it on the shitty lunch he had, but considering it was less than a half takeout carton of fried rice from his favorite restaurant within walking distance of his office, he wasn’t successful in reassuring himself. But, now that he had this, he could easily blame the dread feeling on that.

The last thing he wanted to do was to want to throw punches. Not that it would ever come to that, but he certainly would think about it. Liv, oblivious to his feelings, continued, reaching over to rifle through the file in his hand. She pulled out a paper and held it up for him.

“We’ve tracked his phone usage in the past six weeks. The only number that doesn’t have a text message conversation attached to it is this,” she pointed at the number with a giant red circle around it and a plethora of question marks, “Which happens to be a landline.”

“Land line? They still exist in 2017?”

“They do in eighty-year-old grandfather’s houses,” she handed the paper back to him and he slid it back into the folder.

“He’s a real winner, that one.”

“Tell me about it,” she retorted, swiping her hand through her hair.

Barba shook his head, closing the file again. He shoved it in his briefcase and closed the flap and fell back against the plane seat, finding the open jet window once more. He knit his brow together as he noticed they had started descending. The line trees looked closer and the details of the surrounding cities were getting clearer.

“How’s Noah doing?”

The question brought a smile to her lips, and he grinned as she started talking about him. Her eyes always lit up whenever he was mentioned and that was a detail that always struck him about her. Sometimes, privately, he wondered if her eyes lit up like that when he would mosey over to the precinct with little to no intention of working.

But, that thought was always wiped from his mind as soon as it appeared. He had been trying and failing desperately to talk himself out of even entertaining the idea for a couple of years now and he’d chocked it up to being lonely and nothing more. While most of that was true, he knew when, after the Tucker debacle, and the sting of jealousy and utter sadness followed him well into weeks after it was over, that his feelings were more than just loneliness.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen him? You know, you’re always welcome to come to the park with us on in your down time. I know you spend most of it working, but it’s nice to take a break.”

He could tell that was her not so subtle way of telling him it was time for a vacation and he agreed. He spent most of his time outside of the office, working, but there wasn’t much else going on in his life other than his horrifically large to-do list. The thought was upsetting now that her invitation was on the table.

“I just might do that. I need some fresh air every once and a while.”

“Well, don’t expect to sit down much. Noah will drag you around the playground if you let him,” she eyed him, finger flipping through a few pictures on her phone until she landed on a recent favorite. Noah was smiling happily up at her phone as he swung back and forth on a tire swing. Rafael grinned, eyes tracing the pure expression. It always made him feel the slightest twinge of something deep inside him when he saw the little boy. It was a longing feeling he was afraid to name.

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“You’re forgetting playgrounds are dirty, although I would pay to see Rafael Barba chase after a three-year-old in a thousand-dollar suit.”

He looked at her like she was crazy and then replied, “In your dreams. I’ll be wearing a t-shirt and jeans.”

It was her turn to look at him like he was crazy, “Whoa, wait…you own something other than polo’s?”

Rafael quickly thought back to the handful of times she’d ever seen him outside of work, and each time he’d only ever been in polo shirts. While he did own many a polo shirt, he was kind of shocked by the realization that he was rarely ever in his casual clothing outside in the real world.

“Yes. Is that so shocking?”

“Well, I mean, I just can’t imagine someone as sophisticated as you would wear such a common item of clothing. I can’t even picture you in one,” she teased. He rolled his eyes and sat up straighter, giving her serious side eye.

“Hey, I’ll have you know I look great in t-shirts,” he adjusted his suit jacket with the haughtiest look he could muster. Liv chuckled but grew serious, running her fingers along the leather arm rest of her seat. Her eyes were playful when she met his across the aisle.

“It would be nice to see you in casual clothes. It would be nice to see you outside of work, in general,” she said softly, barely audible over the hum of the plane. The corners of his mouth lifted just the slightest and he licked his lips, trying to figure out the perfect way to say what he was thinking.

Just as he was about to respond, the plane shook roughly, almost knocking them both out of their seats. The glasses in the back near the fridge clanged together and the force sent Rafael’s briefcase tumbling to the side. He cursed and set it straight up, making sure the latch was closed properly.

“Shit,” he cursed, looking towards the closed cock pit door. Liv sat back in her seat, noting the emergency seat belt sign lighting up just above the door.

“Seat belt,” she nodded towards it and Rafael begrudgingly followed suit. He knit his brow together, unease seeping into his body. This was exactly what he had been hoping to avoid. He’d been on small aircraft before and he didn’t like the way you could feel every little bump and altitude drop when on one.

“We’re only a half hour out.”

“Good, I’m going to need a drink,” he joked. Liv laughed easily, but he could tell it was a bit forced. He didn’t miss the way she gripped the arms of her seat when they took off. It was easy to notice when someone had a fear of flying and he could only deduce that Liv was one of those people.

“Anyway, what I was saying- “

The plane lurched again, this time harder. The turbulence shook the small jet and they both audibly yelped when the plane dropped, leaving their stomachs in their throats before it leveled out again.

“Hey! What’s going on?”

Rafael’s angry yell up to the cockpit when unanswered and he hissed when the plane dropped yet again. He glanced over at Liv, who now had her eyes closed and her head pressed back against the seat. She was taking deep, soothing breaths, but her legs were clenched together and her nails were digging into the leather arm rests. He looked out of his open window again, and noted with rising alarm, that they were way closer to the ground than they ought to have been.

“It’s ok, Liv. Just bad turbulence,” he said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation with some reassurance. Liv looked over at him gratefully, forcing a smile. It lasted for all of two seconds as the plane tipped forward and a slew of lights and emergency beeping noises assaulted her ears.

“The fuck…” Rafael growled, hands gripping the leather. His short nails bit into the material and he gritted his teeth when they dropped altitude again. He felt his stomach swirl with dread as the plane tipped forward and leveled out again.

Liv hissed and locked eyes with him, tears gathering in them. Barba took a deep breath and boldly held his hand out to her, feeling her fingers lace and grip his to the point of pain. The cockpit door swung open to reveal the pilot, standing in the doorway, hand clutching his heart and his face beat red.

A vein throbbed as he staggered forward, trying to say something, mouth forming words but the only sound that was audible through the chaotic noises was his choked breaths. Liv and Rafael watched in horror as he fell to the ground in a heap, his body moving uncontrollably against the rocking motions of the plane. Liv gripped his hand harder as the plane continued to drop altitude faster and faster.

Rafael dared a look out of the window again, seeing nothing but trees, and their small jet plane heading straight for the forest that seemed to stretch for miles. It took only a few more terrifying moments until they heard the scraping of tree limbs on the bottom side of the plane.

The lights cut off with a violent flicker, the emergency beeping halting and leaving them with the sound of rushing wind as the vessel hurtled towards the tops of trees.

They locked eyes once more, the world slowing down as they took only a few deep breaths and then their world was upside down, tumbling and screeching and loud. Rafael felt his seat come undone from the floor and he was thrown forward. He shut his eyes, the sounds of Liv’s terrified screaming the only thing making it to his brain. It seemed like hours as his world spun and then he found himself slammed into the floor of the plane, hard enough to make his eyesight blur. He was hurtled through the space of the plan again, but found himself lodged into a small space where the door had been flung from the plane.

In the final moments before he blacked out, he could smell the burnt metal and smoke rising from the engine. The only thing he could feel was the immeasurable pain lancing through his body like a thousand needles. The only thing he could hear was the whirring of the engine dying and the snapping of the tree limbs. The only thing he could see was Liv, hanging from her seat upside down, her limbs hanging limply in front of her.

He called her name weakly before he succumbed to the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this story is going to be kind of gory I suppose in some parts. Just a fair warning if you don't like that type of thing. I don't own SVU or any of the characters. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter and thank you to everyone who is liking it and commenting so far!

The first thing Liv saw when she woke was smoke and Ralph's dead body staring up at her, impaled on a tree limb that had cut its way through the body of the jet plane.

She was hung upside down, held only by the small seat belt she could feel her body slowly slipping out of. Her head was delirious, as well as her eyes and as she tried to focus in on her surroundings, the world moved in slow motion with it.

Smoke curled through the cabin in small, transparent clouds, along with the heavy scent of gasoline and fire, mingling with nature. The leaves of the branch fell to the roof of the plane, dancing through the air until they landed on a heap on top of the pilot's body. Liv gasped when she saw the man's body had nearly cut completely in half.

Liv grabbed for the arms rests of her chair and pulled on them, trying to keep her body from slipping completely out of the chair before she could find a way down. She looked around the entire cabin, trying to find a suitable way to maneuver herself down safely when she spotted Barba, passed out cold, still strapped to his chair and a blood dripping down his face from a cut that started from an eyebrow and ended near his hair line.

"Barba," she called out, voice raspy. It was the only word she could utter before her seat belt snapped unexpectedly and sent her hurtling towards the roof of the plane. It wasn't a far drop, but she landed in a heap on top of broken glass and she all but hissed in pain when the glass cut into her skin. She could feel the embedded fragments sink into the exposed flesh near her collar bone from the impact.

"Fuck," she murmured, immediately getting to her knees. She felt small droplets of blood run down her arm, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. She rubbed her ribs where her body had slammed into and stood on shaky legs. The cabin of the plane was small before, but it was even smaller now. The roof had been dented inward, making it impossible to stand.

Liv was hunched over, almost squatting as she stepped carefully across the plane roof, avoiding looking over at the dead body. The smell of iron from the blood draining was enough to make her want to vomit, other than the tailspin of events that had just happened.

She landed on her knees right in front of Barba and grabbed his suit jacket. Her hands curled around the fabric and shook him, pleading with him to wake up. It took a minute or two of shaking him and slapping his bloody face before he jerked awake and yelped in pain. His teeth ground together and he tensed up, groaning in what she could only think of to be pain.

"Barba," she said, grabbing his chin and breathing harshly, "Are you ok? What's wrong?"

"My arm," he hissed through his teeth, eyes opening just a bit to look at her. They widened when he saw the glass still embedded in her skin. They widened even further when he saw the wreckage they were in.

"Can you move it?"

Liv snapped her fingers in his face when he didn't answer immediately, having found the dead body of their pilot impaled on the tree limb. His face grew a deadly pale and she only had a few seconds to move out of the way as he leaned forward and threw up in the spot she had just been sitting in. She moved to his side and held his neck as he emptied his stomach, her mind focused on getting him unstrapped and finding a way out of the plane.

He groaned, head between his legs and it gave her the opportunity to see out of the broken window where his head was covering just moments ago, seeing the thick black smoke curling into the air. Beyond that, she could only see wood and leaves. She wondered how high up in the trees they were, because it was going to be crucial knowledge in finding a way out of there.

"Liv," Barba gasped, he spit a couple of times and leaned back, eyes watery. He rubbed his mouth on the dirty sleeve of his suit jacket and looked at her with confused eyes. She rested her hand on his cheek, and wiped away some of the blood still dripping from the cut on his forehead.

"We need to move. We have to find a way out of here and get some help."

He nodded, hanging on her every word with startling clarity, "Can you move your arm?"

"Yeah," he nodded and moved it, but winced, "It just hurts when I do it. But, I can move it."

"Good," she said and reached down to his lap to undue the seatbelt, "Because we're probably going to have to climb."

Rafael looked unsure, but got out of the seat and ended up on his hands and knees, avoiding the mess he made on the dented ceiling floor. Liv looked around, trying to find an exit, but saw only one. There were only two emergency doors on the small plane, one had been completely smashed in and covered by Rafael's former seat. It would be impossible to move, since it was lodged in there completely. The only other exit that was even remotely possible for them to maneuver out of, was where Ralph's body was hanging on to.

Liv licked her lips, tasting blood and soot as she crawled forward. She had every intention of bypassing the dead body in favor of getting a better look of their only exit, but she froze when she felt the plane creak and slide. She heard Rafael's panicked gasp the moment it happened and just as she was about to turn and tell him everything was ok, the tree lurched forward, the cracking of the limbs it rested on breaking under the weight.

There world spun around them, throwing them every which way until the plane halted again, slamming into the earth as well as slamming their bodies into the plane ceiling once more.

Liv coughed and sputtered, trying to regain the wind that was knocked out of her, gasping for air as she tried to sit up again. She looked to her right, vision clearing as she saw the mini fridge that had been in the back of the plane, tipped over with the door open, revealing a few bottles of water still and a bottle of wine that had managed not to break in all of the tumbling.

Rafael, somewhere a few feet from her, cursed loudly, catching her attention. She rolled over and sat up, seeing him struggling to move the dead body of their pilot off of him with his injured arm. He looked panicked as he wildly tried to move the heavy body, that had sheared in half completely, off of him.

Liv crawled over to him as fast as she could, still disoriented, but clear enough that she was able to help push the body off of him completely with little help. Rafael sat up, catching his breath as well.

"Liv, you're bleeding," he said, voice shaky as he nodded towards her head. She reached up to feel the blood, but it was inconsequential, still. They weren't in the tree anymore, but they still needed to get out of there.

"We need to get out," she said and turned around, looking for anything they could take. The water had to be grabbed and she did spot a first aid kit strapped to the side of the plane still, managing to also stay intact through everything. There was a yellow box below it, and she had to guess that it was full of supplies they could potentially need.

"Rafael," she reached behind her and grabbed his suit jacket, "I need you to grab the water in the fridge over there. Grab as many as you can."

He nodded, taking deep breaths, his eyes focused on the blood and whatever else was covering his clothing that had transferred from the body that landed on him. He hissed in pain when he used his arm, but he did as she told him while she crawled towards the first aid kid. It was easy to remove and she rifled through the yellow box, finding a small blanket, some matches, a knife and some tape. She wasted no time in ripping the box off the wall and flung it across the ceiling.

There was a sufficient amount of space open where the tree branch had sliced through the metal body of the jet and Liv expertly shimmied her way through the opening and landed in a heap on the dirt ground outside. Thick black continuously poured from the plane and a dark liquid spilled from the torn engine, the gasoline making her eyes water. The yellow box and first aid kit were thrown to the wayside, momentarily forgotten as she helped Barba slide out.

She could tell he was biting back the urge to groan in pain with his arm as he joined her on the ground outside, throwing the few water bottles he was able to carry in his good arm while climbing through the plane.

"C'mon," Liv urged, standing on shaky legs and holding her hand out to him. It took some time, but he eventually joined her and the two staggered with their supplies out into a clearing where the sun beat down upon the Earth, no trees to filter the light.

Liv slammed to her knees with the box in her hands and exhaled heavily, suddenly feeling so exhausted. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Barba fall next to her, flipping over on his back and resting his head in the dirt. He was covered in blood and dirt, some of the vomit from earlier had dripped down his suit jacket, which was cut and sliced open in different parts.

She supposed she didn't look any better. There was still glass embedded in her skin, making it sting with every movement she made. Sooner, rather than later, she was going to have to pick it out and clean those small, jagged cuts she knew she was going to have. She was also going to have to clean the cuts on both of their heads and whatever other injuries they sustained.

But first…

Liv glanced over her shoulder from her hunched over position and nearly doubled over in shock. Her fight instincts hadn't allowed her to realize the gravity of the situation they were in until that moment and she felt her heart accelerate in her chest and sweat bead under her the collar of her blazer. Next to her, Rafael propped himself up on one elbow with great difficulty and Liv realized that he was thinking the same thing she was.

"My God…," he whispered, seeing one of the propellers from the engine spinning slowly, sparking as it scrapped against metal. The other engine sat a few feet from the rest of the wreckage, smoking and propeller face down in the dirt. It looked so surreal, seeing the jet they had just been on in the air, crumpled like a toy in the ground of a forest.

Liv wanted to believe she was dreaming and that this wasn't their worst nightmare come to life. She wanted to desperately believe she was still asleep on the plane, safe and sound and only 45 minutes away from their destination. She didn't want to the reality that they had just survived a plane crash and were stranded in some unknown forest, in a completely different state with the clothes on their backs and a first aid kit, no food, little water…

"Olivia," Rafael's stern voice brought her out of her thoughts and she felt a tear slip down one cheek. It stung and she wiped it away, blood smearing with it.

"Olivia…we…," Rafael trailed off, a breath of disbelief following his whispered words. He fell back against the ground again, eyes focused on the blue, cloudy sky that hung above them. The thick black smoke reached towards it, curling in large tendrils that dissipated into white flames halfway through the tall, towering trees.

"I need water," she said, voice thick and raspy. She sniffed and reached for a water bottle near his foot, taking heavy gulps. She resisted the urge to down half the bottle then and there, the startling realization that they may need this water to last stopping her before she could.

"Liv. I don't even know what's going on. This can't be real."

But, it was. Liv looked around the clearing, brown eyes blown wide as she saw a few birds flying through the trees and squirrel climbing up the trunk of one directly in front of her. There was little to no grass and it was cool as a light breeze brushed through her hair, feeling good against her hot skin for the moment.

"Oh God, no one knows where we are," Rafael groaned, sitting up. Liv could begin to feel the panic rolling off him, starting from the way his breath picked up to the jerky movements of him loosening his tie. Liv watched him for a moment, seeing his head dip down past his shoulders. She curled her lip in irritation and crawled over to him with all the strength she could muster.

He wasn't doing that to her. No. Way.

"Barba," she said sternly, leaning on him more than she wanted to as she jerked his shoulder back and forced him to look at her. His green eyes were glazed over and his lips were parted, shooting ragged wheezes out that blew back the hair falling in her face.

"Calm down. Fucking calm down and _think_. Don't panic on me. Please, don't," she pleaded with him, falling down on her backside next to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder where her hand had been and breathed in his scent. His cologne, mixed with the smell of smoke and dirt and blood centered her enough that she felt calm for the first time in the past couple of minutes.

She felt his head rest against the top of hers and they sat there for the longest time, the sounds of nature and the hissing sound of wreckage the only thing keeping them company. Liv allowed the contact to last only until she felt her eyes dipping closed and felt herself slipping dangerously close to sleep.

They needed to gather themselves and assess their situation, before it was too late and they were left alone, in the dark, with no plan.

"What time does your watch say?"

Liv looked up, face hovering close to Rafael's. His eyes were half-lidded and she could see the pure exhaustion seeping into his bones as well. He mumbled something and lazily brought his hand up, squinting down at the face.

"Quarter to four," he replied and Liv nodded. The sun was going to start setting just a few hours, which meant they only had a good few hours of daylight for the smoke from their plane to signal someone, which was what she was counting on. Someone, _anyone_ , had to have seen them gone down or, at least, seen the smoke rising from the forest. They were near a state park, or so she thought…the chances of those rangers seeing it were in their favor.

She hoped, anyway. Which immediately made her think of her cell phone. She patted down her jacket and pants pockets before she asked Rafael, "Do you have your phone?"

Thankfully, he pulled out his cell phone, in pristine condition from his pants pocket and the screen lit up, also lighting up her hopes. She grabbed it and unlocked it, easily knowing the passcode to get into it. There were zero bars in the corner. Shit.

"I'm going to try and get a call through."

He nodded, leaning back into her, which she welcomed. The need to comfort him was strong, because she could tell he was trying not to freak out as badly as he had been. She scolded herself for being so aggressive with him earlier, but she needed calm and quiet to think. She certainly couldn't blame him for freaking out, though. She was two seconds from doing so herself.

Especially since every call she had made, including to 911, failed to even connect. She slid the phone away from her ear, gripping it limply as she let her hand fall to her lap uselessly.

"Nothing?"

The question was quiet, almost inaudible to her ears, but she heard it and she nodded. He didn't say anything after that, not even when she moved away from him and dropped his cell phone on the ground. She crawled back to the yellow box and opened it, seeing the supplies she saw back in the plane.

Blanket. Knife. Matches. Tape.

Four simple things that could easily be the difference between life and death. The fact that they were even in a life or death situation was still baffling to her. What the hell went wrong? The pilot was dead before they even crashed. It happened so quickly…

She was broken out of her thoughts yet again by Rafael reaching up towards her with a cotton ball. He'd moved out of his spot and now sat on his knees, open first aid kit next to him as he dabbed lightly at the cut on her cheek. She thanked him silently, taking the time to relax while he wiped some blood away from her face. She briefly considered taking one of the bottles of water and cleaning her face with it, but they had a limited supply and it wouldn't be wise.

Four bottles of water were all they had. Two each. How long would they need to save the water? What about food? There was virtually none other than the wildlife around them, but they didn't know how to hunt. They were from the city.

"We need to get to a location that has cell service…I wish I knew where the nearest town was…"

"Can't be far," he responded, unwrapping a small, round band aid from its package and sticking it to the cut on her cheek. His eyes found the embedded glass still stuck to her upper chest, small droplets of blood trailing down into her shirt. Liv winced, knowing that had to be taken care of and something had to be done with his arm.

Their growing list of worries wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

Liv suffered through a painstakingly long time of helping Rafael pick glass out of her skin and biting through the fabric of her dirty blazer through the pain of rubbing alcohol cleaning her cuts. The sky had darkened over the time they sat there, attending to their wounds. Crickets and nocturnal wildlife had started making their presence known as soon as the sun had started to set. The light dimmed faster in this small clearing than it would have had the tall trees not been there to cover the orange glow.

By the time they were finished, the smoking of the wreckage calmed down considerably and the moon sat low in the sky, signaling the impending nightfall. Liv shook her head, knowing they had no other choice but to stay there overnight. She contemplated leaving the entire time they sat there in the middle of the clearing, but they both ruled against it with the waning daylight overhead. Plus, they had no idea of the area surrounding them. Finding another clearing like this wasn't highly likely.

It was unanimously decided upon to use the plane wreckage as their form of shelter for the night, despite the smell of gasoline and burnt metal and the dead body still waiting inside. It was the only choice they had.

"We'll try and sleep tonight. We'll start walking first thing in the morning."

Rafael nodded, trying not to look at the pilot's dead half body lying just feet from them as they curled up together in the corner of the plane. It was cramped back there and they were touching from head to toe, curled up underneath a blanket, but it was the only comfortable position they could find themselves in. The blanket was just big enough to cover them both and their jackets cradled their heads from the hard ceiling.

As nightfall sank in and the sounds of the forest grew louder, Liv was getting ready to doze off when Rafael's harsh whisper broke her from that state. His arm curled around her waist and pulled her closer to his body. Something about the action comforted her so immensely, it was shocking.

"Are we going to be ok?"

It was the first-time Liv had heard this man sound so meek and broken. His voice was normally strong, sure and confident. Seldom did she ever witness a soft-spoken side to one Rafael Barba, and when she had, it was always followed by the version of himself he chose to mostly display to the world.

This was a version of him she had heard before and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Liv turned in his embrace and wrapped her arm around his back, understanding the need to be close to each other. She pushed her face into his chest and sighed, "We're going to be fine."

She waited until Rafael fell into a fitful sleep to really think about what she had just said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't a truth. It was merely meant to placate his exhausted mind so they could both sleep in the wreckage of this jet plane they found themselves in. She didn't know if they were going to be alright, but she had the tiniest spark of hope in her chest that someone had seen the smoke.

Otherwise, they were screwed.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she was sure they already were.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think! I love hearing from you :) I don't own SVU or its characters.

Amanda sipped the coffee from her mug and got comfortable at her desk. Carisi and Fin were meeting with a suspect and she was left to hold down the fort. It was odd to have a call first thing in the morning, since most crimes were committed during night time, but nothing was ever guaranteed with their career.

At least she had a mountain of reports to file and that would keep her busy well into lunch time. She was already dreaming of her couch, that huge slice of triple chocolate cake in her fridge and some crappy reality television while her daughter slept away in her crib. With days like today, she would need the extra motivation to push through it.

As her computer booted up, she glanced at Liv's darkened office and wondered how the meeting went in Manchester the day before. She knew, because Liv had told her, that it may turn into an overnight trip and, even if it didn't, she wouldn't be in the office at all that day, anyway.

Amanda thought it was weird she hadn't received a text, nor anyone else had, regarding the case since the entire squad had worked tirelessly on it, Barba included. They would have normally gotten confirmation that they got their guy and their case was going to trial as soon as they got back.

But, so far, nothing.

She didn't dwell on it for too long. They were both busy people, probably trying to recover from dealing with a different states local authorities and were catching some shut eye before they had to endure another private jet flight back to the city. It could take the energy out of anyone, especially a mother and Lieutenant and an overworked ADA. She only hoped they took some time to relax.

She set about opening various files and reports that needed her attention and was able to work quietly for a full thirty minutes before Chief Dodds blew in and disrupted her work flow. He looked pissed, his tie rumpled and coming out of his suit jacket as he held up his phone in his hand, eyebrow raised.

"Have you heard anything from Benson or Barba, because I sure the hell haven't."

Amanda shook her head, confused and growing a tad bit concerned. Liv nor Barba had bothered to get a hold of any of them, but she fully expected one of them to get back to the man in charge. Chief Dodds was the one who sent them there in the first place. It would only be fitting for him to be the one they called upon first.

"Do you know why Benson and Barba never made it to Manchester PD yesterday?"

Amanda knit her brows together, genuinely flabbergasted and at a loss of what to say. Dodds just stared, hands on hips and looking like she was two seconds from being fired if she didn't answer. She sputtered, trying to grab for an answer she didn't have.

"Sir, I haven't even talked to Liv since yesterday. I figured they had it all covered. Did they not report in? Neither of them called you?"

"No," he began and waved his phone around, "I got a call from the Chief of Manchester PD, asking when they were going to get there. They've had Samuel Roberts in custody since nine last night. On top of that, the jet they took never landed at the private airport we sent them to."

Amanda felt her stomach drop at the news, immediately thinking the worst. Their plane didn't land and that was a huge problem, although Dodds didn't seem to think the same. He was angry, because this guy they were chasing after was costing them headaches and money and that was a problem.

"D-did you say their plane never landed? At all? Anywhere?"

She reached for her phone as Dodds said no again, annoyed that she would even ask. She scrolled through the contacts and dialed Liv's number, only to be sent straight to voicemail. That set her on edge immediately. Liv always had her phone on, no matter what. She had to, given her title and the work they did.

She hung up before the dial tone to leave a message and, instead, scrolled till she hit Barba's name and dialed him. When he didn't answer, her stomach dropped even further. Barba always had his phone on and always answered. There was one instance that she could remember not being able to reach him and that was due to him being in a meeting.

"They flew out from the private strip through LaGuardia, right?"

"Yes," he answered, "I've already tried calling control and they're looking into it for me. It's possible their plane never checked in anywhere and if that's the case, I'm going to have that pilot's head. I have to go. Find something out and get back to me. I have to go smooth things over with Manchester PD and figure out a way to get our guy back here."

Amanda hadn't paid him any attention, too busy switching between calling Liv's and Barba's cell phones. She gave up when she realized she was never going to get a hold of the, which set her mind into a chaotic, worried state. She looked around the empty squad room, seeing police milling about their days as if nothing was wrong. But, of course they would. No one knew what she'd just been told.

… _their plane never checked in anywhere…_

Without any hesitation, Amanda jumped into action and found the number for LaGuardia, while pulling up dozens of phone numbers for airports in the surrounding area. She had the sinking feeling in her stomach, after LaGuardia put her on hold, that she wasn't going to be finding an answer any time soon.

* * *

Rafael woke the sound of birds chirping and loud cursing.

He tried sitting up and immediately regretted the decision when piercing pain danced like needles along his shoulder. He stared up at the floor of the jet, Liv's abandoned seat belts dangling down towards him.

He dreamt of the crash the night before, causing him to only get…well, there was no way to tell. His cell phone was turned off to save battery and all he had to go buy was the pitch black that surrounded him in the night. Light filtered in now through the broken-out window and the smell of nature and blood lingered in his nostrils.

There was another familiar curse from outside and his curiosity won out over the pain he was experiencing. He sat up, wincing and keeping his arm close to his body. He only sat up for a few seconds before he laid back down, feeling weak as his stomach growled. The reminder that they had no food was really laying into his mind at that moment. His last meal was early yesterday morning, and it was a muffin he gave up on half-way through.

He tried sitting up again, and he stayed in that position until he felt like he had enough energy to shimmy through the side of the plane, where Liv was if her loud cursing was anything to go by. As soon as he was out and on his feet, gingerly rubbing his arm, he could see Liv standing in the center of the clearing, arm up high and the phone screen angled down towards her face. Had they not been in the situation they were, he would have easily laughed at the way her tongue poked out between her lips and her hair fell in dirty, bloody strands by her face.

But, this was no laughing matter. They couldn't even ping a cell phone tower…that's how far out they were…

"Any luck?"

Liv looked over at him, lips parting but her arm never lowering. She shook her head and brought her arm down, trekking through the dirt and grass over to him.

"I keep trying to get a signal," she huffed, leafing her fingers through her hair. She looked haggard but he supposed he didn't look much better.

"Nothing?"

"…no. We might be too far out."

Rafael sighed and moved the hair out of his eyes. The sun was bright but there was still a light breeze that swept through the clearing, rustling the trees and sending stray leaves curling into the air and scattering around their feet. He stood there, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to relieve some of the heat he was feeling.

"If we can't even get a signal from the phone, then we must be some ways away from a city. Otherwise, we could ping a cell phone tower if we were relatively close by."

"Well," he said, walking further out into the clearing where she stood, "This has to be a national forest of some kind. They have rangers who protect the wildlife and the campers…they would have had to notice smoke in the air."

"Let's hope. Let's also hope this said wildlife doesn't involve anything that can maul us," she mumbled, holding his cell phone up in the air again with little hope in finding a bar. She'd been doing it for close to an hour now, while he slept, and she still got nothing. He nodded, seconding that motion.

She gave up waving his phone in the air and hung her head back, letting the sun hit her face. She listened to the sounds of the forest for the umpteenth time in the last hour. It was beginning to annoy her, which was odd, because she craved this sort of sound when she was back at home and trying to fall asleep to the traffic outside of her apartment.

After a while, he cleared his throat, "We have no food."

Liv nodded, finding his eyes. Her fingers tightened around the phone at the thought.

"We have no food. We have four bottles of water. Unless we can find my cell phone, we only have 45% of your battery left…"

"Do you think it's wise to leave? They'll have search parties coming...," he said without much hope in his voice. It was nearly impossible to think positively in the situation they were in. He looked up to the blue sky, wishing to see a helicopter fly over and spot them. He knew the likelihood was slim. The thick, black smoke from the wreckage had stopped overnight, leaving only white smoke that wouldn't signal anyone from the sky.

"I know…I've been thinking about that."

"And?"

Liv looked over at him, taking in his bloody appearance as he sat back against a tree trunk in the shade. His hair was mused, his face was dirty and he still had blood covering his clothes and she knew she looked just as bad as he did. They were in no condition to trek into the woods despite her not wanting to stay in one place and seek out the nearest town. But, that could be days away and they could potentially miss a search party sent out that saw the smoke leaking into the sky.

There were too many what-if's and it was overwhelming to say the least. Liv sighed heavily and plopped onto the ground next to him. It was cooler in the shade, just enough to raise goosebumps on her skin. She kept the phone in her hand, face up, just in case a call got through.

"We stay for a couple of days. If no one comes by then, we need to leave. We can only go so long without any food. If there are some streams or something around here, we can try and fish…but I don't know the first thing about hunting."

Rafael curled his injured arm's hand into a fist, trying to work out the kink that was causing him pain, "I was a boy scout. Got me beat up a lot when I was a kid but I know a little about surviving off the land."

Liv was surprised and elated to hear that, because she knew next to nothing. They were city slickers, through and through, and the thought of having to make a fire or go looking for food was daunting and terrifying. At least one of them had some sort of knowledge, even if it might be limited.

"So…we both agree to stay?"

"For a couple days."

* * *

"Wait…did you just say their plane never landed? And you check surrounding airports and they have no record of it either?"

"None," Amanda sighed, feeling her gut twisting as Carisi repeated back the information that had been relayed to her that morning. She spent hours calling different airports in the state and the state's surrounding, waiting as logs were checked and hoping beyond hope that they had flown into a different private strip. But, every answer she got was negative. The more negative answers she received, the more worry grew into knots in her stomach.

She ended up calling both Fin and Carisi back to the office, holding off their canvasing of the neighborhood for their current case so they could help her. She was about to call in missing persons reports for both of them.

"Well, they had to have landed somewhere. Anywhere. Maybe they didn't record it."

"Even if that's the case, one of them would have gotten a hold of us," Fin provided, sitting back in his chair. He had his arms crossed over his chest and worry etched into his face.

"Yeah, and airports don't just not record landing planes."

"Maybe they had engine trouble," he said, nervously fidgeting by her desk. She could see him beginning to run out of ideas and they were ideas she had already thought up. She stopped him before he could question anymore.

"Guys…," she started, swallowing hard, "What if they crashed?"

Carisi scoffed, crossing his arms, "What's the likelihood of that? You know what the odds are of a plane crashing?"

"It was a private jet. A small, private jet. Those odds increase when it's not a fucking Boeing," she hissed, her anger growing. Carisi noticed and hung his head, backing up and giving her space. Fin bounced his leg, eyes focused on Liv's empty, dark office.

"Let's say they did…it's gotta be in local news somewhere."

"You think they work that fast?" Carisi slid over to his desk and woke his sleeping computer, but Amanda had already opened a fresh browser and started typing.

"For a plane crash? More than likely. Search surrounding states for anything. New Hampshire has a big, national forest."

They immediately set to work, eyes glued to their screens as they desperately began searching the internet for anything that would give them answers.

* * *

It was about mid-day before they decided to search through the wreckage for anything they could use. They spend most of the morning taking turns trying to find a signal and they officially called a draw when they were both too mentally exhausted to continue trying.

They decided that searching through the wreckage was their best course of action before they decided to hike out into the forest to find anything food related plus wood to build a fire. When they shimmied back through the plane opening, they scoured around on hands and knees, retrieving his briefcase, that carried his wallet and important legal documents. They also found her purse and her loaded gun still inside. However, her phone was completely gone and they had spent almost an extra hour searching for that.

"I'm going to check what's left of the cockpit," Barba said, crawling through the small, cramped space. There was blood splattered on the wall and he tried not to think about the sheared, dead body of the former pilot lurking just behind him somewhere.

The seats were pushed all the way up and into the windows and controls, leaving only the center console in place and he was easily able to open the drawers. When he did, he nearly cried in relief.

"Liv! Look!"

Liv glanced over her shoulder, clutching the unbroken bottle of wine in her hand and nearly dropped it when she saw the handful of protein bars in his grasp. She hurried over, rolling the wine bottle towards the opening and it landed on the ground with a soft plop outside.

"Are you serious," she gasped, face lighting up at just the mere sight of food. Barba nodded and handed them to her, diving his upper half back into the small space. He returned with a few more, along with some hard candies and a few candy bars. Liv almost cried.

"Now we know what happened to Ralph. Guy had a damn heart attack," Barba said, trying not to inject too much humor into his voice when speaking about the dead man, but he was nearly giddy with excitement. He followed Liv outside, who immediately ripped open a bar and took a bite of the granola, moaning in satisfaction. He smiled, listening to her, before he joined her.

"God, I've never tasted something so good before," he said, licking his lips. He found it a bit humorous, considering it hadn't been that long since they both ate, but it had felt like days since they were stranded out here. If it felt like days, and it had only been hours…

"We need to savor these. Who knows when we're going to be found."

He nodded, taking a smaller bite and chewing it slowly, already thinking about the water sitting in the utility box under the tree just a few feet away. Liv, not even needing to ask, got up and grabbed a water for them to sip from and wash down their meal.

"Hopefully, this is all the food we're going to need," he nodded towards the pile that Liv had started stashing into the box, underneath the blanket in an effort to keep it as cool as possible. She didn't want the chocolate melted by the sun beating down on it.

"Yeah. I hope so, too."

* * *

Night fall came quickly, and along with that, came a fire.

It was hot during the day, under the sun, trying to gather wood and rocks to make a small fire pit, but the temperature had dropped rapidly, leaving them to put back on their dirty jackets and try and getting a signal again. But, still nothing. Liv had become so frustrated, he had to snatch the phone from her hand and remind her that if she broke it, she would break their only real line to the real world.

Plus, she would have to buy him a new phone.

Eventually, the late hour had sleep pulling at their eyes and, with nothing much to do, they crawled back into the plane with their blanket, leaving the fire going on outside instead of trying to put it out prematurely. It would die during the night, anyhow.

They took up the same position wordlessly, under the cramped area in the back that was just comfortable enough for both of them. The smell of gasoline was still prevalent, but not as strong as it was the night before and Liv was thankful for small victories.

Liv wasted no time in lying right down in front of him as soon as he got comfortable, shoving her blazer under her head for support. She felt his arm slide around her waist and his chest press into her back. Unintentionally, she tensed up from the unexpected contact and she felt him freeze.

"…is this ok?"

Liv nodded, relaxing back into his body and lacing their fingers together. Life or death situation, it wasn't all that appropriate to hold your friends hand like that, but she would take all the comfort she could get. Right now, that was his warm breath hitting the back of her neck as they fell asleep to the nightly sounds of the forest around them.

It was silent for a good long while and Liv wasn't anywhere near close to drifting off. The only thing she could think of was Noah, asking where she was. This was their second night gone, and there was no possible way they hadn't been reported missing yet. She had all the confidence within her colleagues, that they would notice their absences and take them seriously.

"You awake?"

Liv closed her eyes, hearing Rafael's whispered words in her ear. His voice was calm and soothing and she hummed, squeezing his hand that had wrapped tighter around her waist. She felt a flare of something warm shoot up inside of her body and she reasoned that it was only because she was still wound up from the crash.

"Can't sleep," she said softly, watching the fire from outside dance along the opposite wall of the place. The scorch marks and the curled metal of the open punctures in the wall were mesmerizing. They both stayed silent for another long stretch until he exhaled, blowing strands of hair over her cheek.

"I'd kill for a shower right now."

Liv giggled and turned over on her back, lying so their faces were inches apart. She could just barely see his handsome features from the fire still burning outside. She unlaced their fingers and ran her hand up his arm, gripping his forearm resting over her belly.

"I should kill you for making me think of showers right now."

"A nice, hot bath…"

She pinched his exposed skin and he jumped a little, cursing in pain before he nudged her foot with one of his. They both chuckled and Liv was happy to be feeling something other than despair for even just a minute. They'd both been so bleak about their survival earlier on, but that had been alleviated with something in their stomachs, finally.

In truth, if she had to pick anyone to be in a life-threatening situation such as this with, she would have picked him. There was something so calming and soothing about his presence to her, that as soon as they had a food supply (albeit a small one), she felt as though all their trials and tribulations they were about to face died with that discovery.

Plus, he was taking this entire thing rather well. Better than she ever expected. She was grateful for that, as well.

When their chuckles died down, Liv lightly ran her fingernails over his skin again, her face growing soft, but serious.

"We'll get them soon. It's only a matter of time."

They stared at each other in silence, eyes dancing across each other's faces just like the fire danced along the wall. Liv swallowed as she inched her face closer, and Rafael's hand came to rest lightly on her bruised cheek, fingers caressing her skin as they moved into her hair.

She closed her eyes as their noses bumped together, their lips just seconds from touching, and just as she was about to close the distance, the sound of his phone ringing broke through the silence of their shelter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't own SVU or its characters.

"We're gonna be here all night, aren't we?"

Amanda nodded at Carisi, who was busy shoveling fried rice into his mouth and trying to keep his eyes from drooping. Still no phone calls and nothing reported by New Hampshire wildlife or park rangers. They'd been calling around airports in the surrounding areas to see if any charter flights had landed on private airplane strips and nothing ever came back.

Around two that afternoon was when Dodds came back, officially worried about their whereabouts. Amanda had been pissed when he left her in the morning after dropping that bomb, effectively telling her to get a hold of them so he could chew them out for not reporting in, and refusing to listen to her suggestions that maybe something was seriously wrong.

But, seeing the Chief, arms crossed and his eyebrows knit together as she explained what they'd been doing for the past several hours without any leads, set her on edge. The man had an air about him that was intimidating to say the least, but confident. Seeing him without that usual swagger (that really had disappeared altogether for a few months after Mike died) was unnerving.

Hence why, her and Carisi had spent the majority of the day trying to track down anything that could lead them where their missing Lieutenant and ADA went. Fin had left a few hours ago at their insistence, since he had been the one following up on their cases all day with a few temp detectives assisting him.

"I still…," she shook her head, chin the palm of her hand and eyes flashing across the private airport listings she pulled up hours ago, "…I don't know where they could be. Worst case scenario, they crashed. Best case…they landed somewhere with shitty cell service or both of their phones are dead…"

But they both knew that was a stretch. Had that happened, they would have found a hotel and called them using the room phone or something along those lines. It was extremely out of character for either of them not to have their phones on them at all times. She just couldn't see that being the reason.

But she also didn't want the worst-case scenario to be real, at all. Airplane crashes in small jets like that never ended well…but nothing had been reported as far as they could tell. They'd been checking news websites for hours and not a single thing about a jet plane crashing.

"Let's just keep looking. If we don't find anything by midnight…I think we should at least try to go home and get some sleep."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he stopped her cold, "I know. But we're useless if we don't get at least four hours."

She knew he was right, although she hated that he was. His worry for two of their fellow squad members ran deep as well, but they weren't going to function on an all-nighter. Good thing Fin was coming in for a double in the next couple of hours as well to help. He was just as concerned as well, but seeing as how he'd been running around the city all day, working their current case so the two of them could try and locate Liv and Barba, he needed more rest than any of them. She looked at the time in the corner of her monitor and nodded, biting her lip.

"Two more hours."

"Agreed."

Carisi shoveled up some more of the fried rice, eyes combing back through the live updates on the various news websites open on his screen. She leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up, slipping her phone out of her pocket. Along with calling airports and waiting on hold for five hours collectively all day, she'd been trying their cells every hour just in the hopes that they could catch them.

They'd stopped trying Liv's cell hours ago, resigned to the fact that it was completely dead or broken, but Barba's phone always tried connecting for a few seconds before failing, so she'd focused in on his number, but to no avail.

It was probably futile, she thought while she lifted the phone to her ear, but it never hurt to-

She gasped and bolted upright, hearing the familiar ringing tone she sorely missed every time she scrolled through her contacts and tapped on Barba's name. Carisi sat up as she bolted to him, pointing at her phone wildly, "It's ringing!"

"Put it on speaker!" He stood, meeting her halfway and watched as she carefully avoided the end call button and tapped the speaker instead.

* * *

Liv nearly hit him in the face as she bolted upright, feeling her pocket vibrating and the loud chiming set as Rafael's ringtone. She struggled for a second in her haste, but soon, she had it out, screen lighting up their faces with Rollins' name flashing on the screen. She wanted to sob in happiness, but settled for leaning closer into Rafael's side, hitting the accept button.

"Hello? Amanda? Can you hear me? Please, tell me you can hear me…"

There was a sigh of relief and then, " _Liv! Liv, where the hell are you? Where's Barba? We've been trying to get a hold of you all day! Are you ok?"_

"Rollins, listen to me! Our plane crashed! I don't know where we are, New Hampshire or Massachusetts maybe, but we're in the forest and we have zero service!"

Her hand shook as she held the phone and she was grateful when he reached up and stilled it with his own calm one.

* * *

"Massachusetts! Carisi, look!" Carisi left her side hesitantly to go back to his station, knocking the plate of fried rice in the process and half of it spilled on the floor. He cursed, but his fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard, eyes focused and determined.

"Are either of you hurt? Where's the pilot?"

" _Pilot's dead. He was killed in the crash. We have four bottles of water and some candy and protein bars for food, but that's it. We have some matches and a blanket and tape and stuff, but we're using the plane right now for shelter."_

Rollins felt her stomach drop as she only caught half of that sentence as the static grew, obscuring the woman's voice. She pressed her finger to her other ear, trying to close off the noises of the surrounding room to hear her better, but it didn't work. She was losing their signal and it was fading faster than she was able to work with.

"Liv, I think I'm losing your signal."

* * *

"Shit," Liv cursed, crawling only a few inches away from where she'd been sitting to see if that improved the quality, but the static only grew stronger. They weren't going to be connected for much longer, she knew.

"Amanda, just please- "

The sad little tone stating the call had been dropped made her face fall and a tiny tear slip from the corner of her eye. Her hand dropped to her lap, the phone screen lit up on the home screen where a generic wallpaper danced alongside the few apps on his phone.

Rafael sighed, running a hand through his mused hair. His heart was beating wildly in his chest at just the pure adrenaline from having gotten a hold of someone, but it was dropping as the silence around them grew stronger in that moment. He wanted to scream in frustration and suck down that bottle of wine that sat just a few feet away from them, but he reigned it in when he heard Liv sniffle next to him.

"Hey," he said softly, wrapping an arm around her back and pulling her into his side, "It'll be fine. We finally got a hold of someone and they know we crashed. It can only get better from here."

Liv nodded, trying her best not to be so damn emotional, but finding it hard in his presence. She felt comfortable enough to do so, so she did. She leaned into his side and rested her head against his shoulder, sitting with him silently until her tears dried and her eyes began to droop again.

It was minutes before she was out, his phone tucked tightly in her hand between them, her face just inches from his. Her breathing was even and shallow, and her face looked so relaxed, all he wanted to do was reach over and kiss her, like he'd been prepared to do just a half hour ago. So close, in two different ways.

He leaned forward and brushed her forehead with his lips, content with the feeling of comfort he provided for himself and for her, so he could fall into sleep right behind her.

* * *

By the time they were waking up, the sun was shining high in the sky and the birds were chirping loudly in the trees.

Rafael woke with a jump when he felt a hand slowly draw up his back and a body snuggle against his. He opened his eyes, squinting them as sunlight from a broken window by his head beat down on him, threatening to blind him. Beside him, Liv mumbled something, but he was too focused on the fact that her face was his neck and her legs were wrapped around one of his. Not to mention, her arm pulled them chest to chest, but he found himself enjoying the feeling.

It was fairly cold out for such a bright, sunny, September day, but they were farther up North (wherever the hell they were) and the days and nights during the fall months were probably much colder than in the city.

He stayed there for a good ten minutes before nature called and he had to pull himself free from her grip on him. He quietly crawled out of the small hole they considered a door and stretched, popping his back and joints to alleviate some pain from sleeping on the hard ceiling.

His stomach ached for food, but he wasn't about to eat before Liv had the chance to take care of her morning business as well. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long because as soon as he was walking back into the clearing, she was sleepily rubbing at her eyes outside of the plane, leaning against the metal exterior.

"Morning," he said softly, coming to a stop next to her and watched with slight amusement as she shook her head and yawned fiercely. "Morning."

"Hungry?"

"Starving. Thirsty, too."

"Well…we have a lovely selection here," he joked, bending down to the crate to extract their food. It wasn't much of a selection at all. Three protein bars, four candy bars and a few hard mints and candies of various flavors made up their food supply.

Liv smiled a bit and swiped a chocolate chunk protein bar from him, knowing he hated the taste of the chocolate protein powder to begin with. Besides, she saw him eyeing the cinnamon roll one yesterday, and she was correct in her assumption that he would pick that for this meal.

"Water? Wine, maybe?"

God, she wanted a drink. He did, too, as the bottle sat just inches away from where they stood close to each other, staring at them with it's tempting curves. They wouldn't crack that open until necessary, though.

"On our last night in this God forsaken forest, we'll drink. For now, let's stick to water."

They spent the rest of the morning picking through the wreckage and looking to the skies while checking his phone constantly, hoping Rollins heard enough through the shitty, staticy conversation they were able to have before it was cut off abruptly. She had faith in the woman to use her wits and send out a search party or alert wildlife troopers at least, to find them. They weren't going to last forever out there, by themselves with limited supplies.

That thought was scary, but she had decided that she wasn't going to focus on the impending troubles they would be facing. It would spare her a headache, for which they would have no medication to fix.

* * *

"Watch your step," Rafael said, holding his hand out to her so she could jump down from a small ledge he had moments ago. Her hold on his hand lingered as she righted herself, nearly falling over with her boots on. How she walked around the city in her heels, she wasn't sure. They weren't meant for dirt and twigs.

They'd decided to head into the dense forest, at least a little bit of the way, so they didn't get lost. There wasn't much to do, other than sit and wait for a helicopter or some sort of transportation that could spot them and pick them up. It was easy enough to make the decision to scope out their area and give themselves something to do.

They hadn't anticipated it being such uneven terrain with small slopes and ledges they needed to watch out for. It was also easy enough to get lost, so they took the duct tape they had pinned the trees silver so they could make it back to the clearing without hassle.

"Remind me never to fly, ever again."

Liv snorted and ducked under a low-lying branch, eyes scouring the endless amounts of trees ahead of them. They would have to turn back soon, because it was nearing lunch time and her stomach ached for something more substantial they didn't have. Also, they didn't want to risk missing the search and rescue that was (hopefully) on the way, if Rollins was as quick a thinker as she thought she was.

"At least not on a private jet. A Boeing is fine, as long as the pilot isn't in danger of dropping dead in the middle of the flight."

"At least he had a stash of food on him. He saved our lives, more than likely." Rafael glanced at her, taking in her dirty appearance. They'd tried to sparingly use the water they had to try and clean their faces, but he imagined they both still looked like hell. Although, in his eyes, she still managed to look good with dried blood caking her neck and exposed upper chest.

"When we get back to the city, I'm going to take the longest, hottest shower anyone has ever taken before." She sighed dreamily, already thinking about the feeling of hot water cascading down her skin. The soap…lathering it into her hair…

"Shower," he scoffed, "I have a jacuzzi tub in my apartment and I fully plan on soaking myself for three hours, at least."

"Ok, change of plans. I'm going to your place and taking advantage of your bathroom. Let me guess, you also have a bidet and a waterfall shower head in your shower?"

"No bidet, but I do have the waterfall shower head. And you're more than welcome to use it, you know. Noah and I can camp out in the living room and watch cartoons."

She chuckled, imagining the two cuddled up on the couch together, with Noah trying in vain to get the grown man to follow what was happening on the screen of one of his very many favorite cartoons. She would pay to see that.

"If you don't mind a four-and-a-half-year-old who can't seem to focus on one thing for too long. You'll start out watching cartoons and end up building a sheet before the show is over." She stepped over a down tree limb, holding on to his arm just in case she lost her balance like she had earlier.

"Well, you may not know this about me, but I was known as the greatest sheet fort architect in my apartment building growing up. I'll have to show the kid the ropes," he joked, enjoying the skeptical look she was sending him. Sheet forts…it was a nostalgic thought that brought only good memories for him, which was rare when thinking about anything from his childhood, unfortunately. It was why he enjoyed being around Noah whenever he had the chance. The boy oozed childhood innocence he'd been forced to give up at an early age while living with his father under the same roof.

"I'm sure he'll hang on to your every word. He's fascinated by you for some odd reason."

He scoffed, tearing another piece of tape and sticking it around the tree, "That's because I taught him how to make a paper airplane. Your son is incredibly easy to please."

She laughed and changed the subject, the ache in her heart from missing her boy growing every sentence they spoke of him. She had lost track of how many times she'd thought of him in the past two nights, but it was enough to make her emotional, and that wasn't something she needed to be right now.

They had to focus. Keep their eyes and ears peeled to the sky, where, hopefully, her squad was going to fly in and save the day so they could finally go home. She booted that from her mind as well, though, simply enjoying the sound of Rafael's voice as he recounted one of his many tales from his time in Brooklyn, which she always enjoyed hearing.

They walked for another ten minutes, chatting idly about this and that, going over the facts of their current case to distract themselves until they decided it was time to turn back. All they could both see for miles were trees and leaves swaying gently in the breeze and the time was getting away from them the more distracted they became.

"I'm going to kiss Rollins when I see her, I swear," Liv joked, glancing over her shoulder at Rafael, who smirked as he followed closely behind her. "Since this could potentially turn into a life or death situation if we're not found by tonight, I'm willing to admit I've had a dream or two about that particular scenario."

Liv burst out into laughter and shock, turning to say something to his smiling and slightly red face when she lost her footing and went flying forward. Luckily, Rafael was quick enough to grab her around the waist and pull her back, but ended up slipping on a pile of wet leaves from the morning dew, bringing her down with him to the ground.

They both groaned as they hit the forest floor, feeling the impact jolt through their systems. Rafael sighed and propped himself up, checking Liv over and was relieved to see her trying to stifle a giggle. Their legs were tangled together and their bodies were pressed close to each other and the damp ground was seeping into his clothes (that had managed to stay relatively clean), but he made no move to get up and give her some space.

In fact, he felt the exact opposite when her hand landed on his chest and ran up his shoulder, her insane giggling only growing in intensity when he snorted and joined her in laughter.

"Oh God, look at us," she said between giggles. She coughed twice and hummed in amusement as he sat up and untangled their limbs. He stood first, muttering something under his breath when he noticed the clumpy dirt staining his lavender dress shirt, but the smile didn't falter as he helped her up.

She leaned into him, keeping their hands laced as they came face to face. Her amusement from the situation before died down, leaving her to deal with their proximity with startling realization. They'd come _this_ close to crossing a line last night and had his phone not gotten a signal, it would have been stepped over without regret.

She expected to find herself, this morning, wanting to bang her head against the tree for allowing herself to get that close. She'd mulled, for months, about whether she was going to do something about her growing attraction for him (that had been growing for far longer than a few months), but being in this situation with him, not knowing what was going to happen, a few minutes, a few hours or even a few days from now, she was finding her decision to be an easy one to make.

So easy, in fact, that she felt no fear or hesitation when she inched forward and his eyes grew dark, darting down to her parted lips for a half-second. There was nothing in her stance that indicated she was anything other than confident the moment his arms came to rest around her waist and her hands gripped his shoulders.

The first, hesitant meeting of their lips was so soft and timid on his end, so unlike what she thought their first kiss would be like, had they ever gotten there. But, she didn't find herself disappointed as she took the lead and pressed their lips together fully, because he eventually leaned into her more, his hands running up her back, one leafing through her hair.

They stood there, wrapped up in each other, kissing, tasting, touching each other in the middle of a tree riddled forest, their survival essentially resting in the hands of their friends, but she could care less if they were ever found in that moment. Of course, she wouldn't think that later, but right now, as he left her lips and his hands explored and he nipped down her neck, she allowed herself to think of things she normally wouldn't.

She could faintly register the distant sounds of twigs snapping harshly in the distance, too focused on large hands that worked their way under her blouse to touch her skin, her eyes closed to relish the sensations his lips and harsh, whispered words that were breathing against her skin were bringing her.

Her focus was broken, though, when a nearby rustling and even more twigs snapping caught her attention, and her eyes opened in narrow slits to check her surroundings. She froze, body seizing against his moving one as his lips moved back up to reclaim her mouth once more. But, he noticed her posture almost immediately and stopped himself, hands drifting down her bare torso back to her hips. She didn't dare look at him, but she could feel the concern where lusty desire was moments before.

"You ok? What's wrong?"

Liv didn't say anything. Instead, she swallowed and reached up, fingers pushing on his cheek until his head turned and his green eyes locked with large black ones just a short distance away from them.

There, hunched over between two trees, head dipping and nose sniffing the air, was a black bear, watching them intently in the middle of his forest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know! It's been so long! So sorry to everyone who was waiting for an update to this fic. I've been trying really hard to work on some of my other fics before I update my newer ones. I hope people are still going to read this fic because I have a pretty fleshed out idea of where I'm going to take this. I hope you guys like this update! I don't SVU or its characters. Enjoy!

"Don't kill them. I don't need you going to jail and leaving me alone with Jesse. I still haven't perfected the art of diaper changing."

Amanda mumbled something unintelligible under her breath as she marched towards the copter sitting in the middle of the airstrip. Carisi and Fin trailed behind her, geared up with jackets, their weapons and a few days' worth of clothing. There was no telling what was going to happen once they hit the target area and it could take days to spot them.

"Took five hours to get a chopper. I'd let her kill them, bring them back to life and kill them again, if I could." Fin pushed past Carisi, taking larger strides. They were all on edge and anxious, knowing those five hours they had to sit and wait for a confirmation on their helicopter were precious. As soon as they got the go-ahead, they'd dashed their way across town to the private landing strip.

"I'm not killin' anybody. Unless they piss me off."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," Carisi quipped and Amanda didn't even glance back at him as she flipped him off. They were both incredibly irritated, having spent the majority of the night in the precinct before passing out at her apartment and coming right back in three hours later. Fin was tired as well, but he was functioning better than they were.

He was, luckily, the one to greet the pilot of the helicopter before they all loaded on, making sure to thank the man loudly enough to drown out Rollins glares. It worked efficiently enough, because the blonde had been giving the pilot and his assistant the dirtiest look she could muster.

"How long can this thing fly for?"

"About three hours. We'll have to stop to refuel at some point, since no one knows their exact location. We'll also have to take a break and let the chopper cool down."

"We don't really have time for breaks," Carisi said as he slipped on his headset. The rotors were slowly whirring up, and soon, they weren't going to be able to hear much of anything for at least two hours. Amanda rolled her eyes and slipped on her own headset, keeping her mouth shut lest she say something to piss one of the pilots off.

"You're gonna have to make time."

Fin sat back in his seat and buckled up, facing Amanda and Carisi, who he tried to reassure with his tight-lipped smile. They weren't buying it and neither was he, even though he'd been telling himself all morning that everything was fine. They were fine. They were alive somewhere in the forest. They were both some of the most stubborn people he'd ever met. Liv was a fighter, and Barba, though he didn't look it, could most definitely hold his own.

"I got a bad feeling," Carisi muttered across from him, hand cupping his chin as he watched a small, two-person plane landing on a strip in the distance. Fin wanted to say something; he wanted to comfort both of them in that signature, nonchalance he was known for. But, nothing would come out.

The only thing he could do was agree, as scary as that was for him.

They were off the ground in less than ten-minutes, ascending into the skies above the city and he settled back into his seat, closing his eyes, listening to the sounds of the whirring above his head and the odd feeling of flying in a helicopter. After a while, he pulled out his phone and shot off a few texts, deciding to keep himself occupied with Rita, rather than dwell on the fact that this search and rescue mission for his boss and their ADA could turn into a body retrieval in an instant.

* * *

"Don't. Move."

Liv nodded, barely hearing his whispered words. All she could focus on was the looming bear in the distance, staring at them with big black eyes and sniffing the air. It was stationary, shifting on its paws, like it was trying to decide whether it should move forward or stay in its spot.

Rafael swallowed hard, his fingers digging into her hips. His mind was moving a mile a minute, trying desperately to sort through the jumble of thoughts running through it. Somewhere, back in the depth of his memories, were instructions on how to fend off a bear. But that was from years ago, and they were vague and clouded over by fear.

"What do we do," she whispered, fingers digging into his bicep. He licked his lips, trying desperately whether to bolt or try and scare it off. Neither were good options, and he was almost positive that went against what you were supposed to do in the event of a bear. But, then again, what did he know? He wasn't an expert on running away from bears.

"I don't know…I don't know…we can't run," he whispered back. His fingers dug into her waist as the bear shifted forward, the leaves and twigs crunching under his huge paws. It stopped and sniffed the air again, making a low huffing noise.

"We can walk slow, right? Aren't we supposed to make ourselves seem bigger?"

Rafael hesitated, not really able to think straight, but he decided to try it. There was no other option coming to mind. He let go of her waist and turned to stand facing the bear, Liv doing the same. He took one step back, urging her to follow him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she whispered, shaking slightly next to him. They continued backing up, the Earth under their feet crunching loudly. The black bear was looking straight at them now, but made no move forward. He stood there, staring at them with big eyes and a twitching nose.

"Calm down," he said calmly, feeling more at ease the further they backed away. He rubbed her back up and down reassuringly, quickening their pace slightly. He glanced behind them to make sure there weren't any huge barriers that they would need to watch out for walking backwards.

He nearly yelped when Liv pulled on his arm and shouted his name.

"Run!"

Rafael looked back at the bear in time to see it running full force at them, and Liv pulling on his arm so hard he nearly fell sideways. He took off with her, running as fast as they possibly could along the forest floor. The farther they got into the woods, the darker it got, with trees limbs weaving together to block out the sunlight.

Liv was just slightly ahead of him, her hand clutching his wrist so tightly he was sure there would be bruises when they were out of this mess. If they got out of this mess.

They ran for what felt like ages, their lungs burning and the muscles in their legs tired and sore. Eventually, they slowed down enough so that Rafael could like behind them, and he slowed way down, forcing Liv too as well, when he realized the bear was long gone. It had probably given up some time ago, and they had both been too propelled by fear to realize it sooner.

"It's gone," he gasped, bending at the waist and pressing his hands to his knees. He spit out some saliva onto the ground just as Liv fell to her knees. She was gasping for air as well, but she faired far better than he had. He felt close to passing out, while she was already back on her feet, looking around at their location.

It looked darker where they ended up, something he noticed while they were running, but he hadn't realized just how dark it had gotten. It looked like it was approaching night time, when it wasn't even halfway through the morning the last time he checked.

"Shit," she said between breaths and he looked over at her, mouth open and dying for some water. "I don't know where we are."

Rafael nodded, already having drawn that conclusion. When they ran, they certainly hadn't run the same way they came. They ran in a different direction, which was the best idea anyway, so they didn't lead that bear back to where their stuff was. Of course, now, they were lost with no supplies on them, in a dense part of the forest.

"Shit, I don't know where we are," she said again, louder and pushed her fingers up in her hair. She looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown, tears forming in her eyes as she continuously turned, somehow trying to figure out a way back. "We can't go back that way. That fucking bear could be over there."

"Liv, calm down," he finally said, having caught his breath. He caught her wrist and pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her back. He hugged her, feeling a few hot tears seep into his shirt. She was worried…very worried, and so was he, but he knew they needed to remain calm and rational so they could think. He needed her to really think.

"Look, we came from that way," he pointed behind him, "Before that, we were headed this way." He pointed to his left and then to his right, "So let's walk this way. We have to find the plane eventually. We're not lost, we're just a little off path. It'll be ok."

He pulled her back and wiped some of the tears off her cheeks, letting her collect herself. Eventually, she nodded and looked at him, giving him a quick kiss before she let him pull her into his side again, "Now let's get going before that bear comes back. I don't feel like being eaten today."

* * *

"This is going to take forever."

Fin didn't respond to Carisi as they flew over the thick forests below. They had a lot of ground to cover, and after they stopped to refuel at a small, private airport in some small town named Monroe, close enough to the border of New Hampshire.

They had been met with the new that a snow storm was going to be blowing in the next day, drastically shortening their time frame. Fortunately, they had managed to get their flight plans on the direct path the pilot was being tracked from the private airline he worked for, and they had yet to come across any sort of forest land.

"Our only problem was the fact that the tracker was shut off only two miles over the New Hampshire border. After that, we don't know how far they traveled before they crashed."

Amanda snatched the paper from Fin and shook her head, "Don't you think it's weird he went out of his way to fly over this giant forest land just to get to Manchester? That's a hard right. He was going to straight the whole time.

"It is weird but that's not what we need to focus on right now," Carisi piped up. His eyes were scanning the land below as the chopper began its long journey. It was nearing late afternoon and at this point, they were only going to have a few hours of daylight to look before they would need to stop for the night.

"Agreed. We can deal with that later. Right now, keep your eyes peeled. This plane could be anywhere."

* * *

"We should have found it by now."

Rafael couldn't disagree, but he wouldn't agree, either. They had been walking for a few hours now, with sparse breaks in between. They were deeper into the forest, the sun being blocked out almost completely by the trees. It was still light enough they could see where they were going, but it would soon grow too dark to navigate.

They were nowhere near close to where they were before.

"We'll run into it eventually," he countered smoothly, smiling over his shoulder. It was feigned and she knew it and her sigh alerted him to that.

"Rafa…"

"Liv," he jumped in, cutting her off, "We'll find it. I told you, we weren't far off track. Trust me, I know. I saw a piece of tape earlier. We're almost back on track."

Except he hadn't. He had a hell of a time convincing her that he did, and he knew she still didn't completely believe him. Or didn't at all, and just let him comfort her with his lies. He felt guilty about that, but he was also trying to prepare himself for the inevitable conclusion that they would be coming to once nightfall hit and they had to stop.

"I shouldn't have taken off like that. Now we're lost because of it," she said softly behind him and whirled around, trying and failing to keep the anger from pulling at his expression. She looked taken aback, but her brow furrowed and met him with the same angry look he was giving her.

"We're not lost."

"Yes," she said loudly, "We are. We're not even close to being back on track."

"Stop saying that," he huffed and pushed both of his hands into his hair. He must have looked slightly unhinged as he tried to steady his breathing by walking around in a small circle and counting back from 100. Liv crossed her arms and glared at him.

"We're lost, Rafael. You didn't see a piece of fucking tape on that tree back there. You're denying the fact I got us lost to protect my feelings and I don't appreciate it."

"Oh," he said suddenly, throwing his hands out to the side, "Pardon me for not wanting to make you feel like shit."

"I don't need you to that for me. I'm already feeling it."

Liv pushed past him, and he scoffed, "Fine. You got us lost. How about that? Feel better now that I've admitted you screwed us over?"

She glanced over her shoulder but kept walking. He immediately wanted to retract that statement, but pride wouldn't allow it. Even with the scary fact that the temperature was dropping and there was no shelter to be found around them.

"Jesus," he sighed and followed her, "This is just fucking great."

"Just stop," she spat angrily, charging forward ahead of him, "Quit bitching and just walk. We need to cover more land before it gets any- "

Rafael had been looking down at his feet as she had been talking, but his heart jumped in his chest when she let out a short scream and a hard thud knocked a gasp out of her mouth. He looked up to find she had disappeared.

"Liv! Olivia!"

He ran forward and stuttered to a stop when he saw the noticeable edge of a drop off. It was well-hidden, covered with leaves and a patch of grass, with two large trees making it look like a natural part of the landscape. Instead, a tall drop-off cut off the look when he got close to it and looked over the edge, seeing Liv curled into herself and her hands holding her ankle.

He cursed and raced around the drop-off, dropping to his knees next to her. She groaned in pain and looked up at him, brown eyes a little glassy. She was in a lot of pain.

"Fuck," he whispered and looked at her ankle, hands unsure where to land as she writhed on the dirt floor.

"Oh God," she moaned in pain, turning on her back a little. Rafael pushed one of her hands away and delicately touched the skin, feeling around for any oddities. He wasn't versed in the medical field whatsoever, but he didn't feel any bones sticking out and her foot didn't seem to be hanging at an odd ankle.

"Sprain," she breathed out, a tear slipping from her eye. He nodded and let go of her ankle.

"Can you sit up?"

She hesitated but nodded eventually, using as much of her strength as she could to pull herself up into a seated position. He scrambled behind her, assisting her as she kept her ankle pulled close to her body. "Here, can you move over here? So we can sit back?"

He pointed to the large drop off wall behind it. He was covered in dirt, almost as if someone had sawed the Earth in half and removed it. It was a man-made clearing.

"I don't know," she breathed, eyeing the distance. It wasn't that far away from them, but with a sprained or broken ankle, it could probably feel like an eternity. "I'll try."

It took them several minutes before she had managed to crawl back enough, leaving her ankle suspended high enough that it didn't drag or bump against the ground. He pulled her to him, with his back resting against the dirt wall and her weight on his front.

She tried shifting to get a better position, straightening her legs out and using one of his outstretched legs to prop her foot up. She hissed at the contact.

"Don't move it too much," he reprimanded, pulling his arms tighter around her. She groaned but settled back against his chest, her head pressed hard back into his shoulder. Rafael shivered, feeling the breeze rustle through the branches of the trees around them and brushing against their unsheltered bodies.

Night was quickly descending upon them and they were lost. Officially, they were lost.

He tried not to think about what that could mean, although it didn't take a genius to figure out they were fucked. No food, no water. No cell service, and no shelter as well. Bears were out there that were willing enough to kill them and no help in sight…

He briefly thought to that phone call they managed to make the night before. He had faith that Rollins, Carisi and Fin would find them and get them out of this situation, but that faith was dwindling the darker it got and the longer they sat there in silence, watching the leaves swirl in the wind and the light die around them.

Eventually, before they both dozed off completely, they moved closer to the dirt wall, and sunk into a little leaf covered ditch. They faced each other and shivered as a light, cold wind blew at their bodies. Before they fell asleep in the dirt, he kissed her and promised they were going to be alright.

Before he passed out completely, he thought he could the distant sound of a plane.

* * *

It had been time to turn back according to the pilots, when their spotlight passed over something big and white against the greenery that was so out of place, that Amanda's sleepy eyes caught it almost instantly.

She sat up, fully awake and nearly screeched at the pilots to stop and turn around, pointing wildly out the small window of the helicopter.

"Right there! It's right there! Turn around!"

The helicopter slowed to a hover and turned, the pilots paying full attention to where they were going. Amanda talked them through moving slowly, the spotlight being worked by the secondary pilot needing more assistance.

Fin and Carisi couldn't see much until the helicopter had managed to successfully hover right over the small clearing where the plane was. It was broken apart and mangled metal pieces, with branches shoved through it and scorch marks blackening the front nose.

"Shit," Fin cursed softly, "Can you land it?"

"It's a tight squeeze," came the reply through their radios. The plane descended a little, but stopped and moved to the right a little. "A very tight squeeze. But I think I can make it."

Carisi and Amanda exchanged relieved smiles, but Fin wasn't going to celebrate until they found Liv and Barba alive down there. The sudden sense of dread washed over him, churning his stomach into knots at the thought of finding their lifeless bodies down there.

It was irrational to think like that. They had just managed to talk to Rollins the day before, but who knew what their condition was? They could have been hurt in the crash. Life threatening injuries didn't end well without medical intervention…or maybe they decided to head out on foot and were lost in the forest somewhere? The possibilities were endless and he they didn't leave his mind until the pilot had managed to park the helicopter in the clearing, perched over a large log in the center.

All three of them were out of their seats as soon as they were cleared to exit the chopper. They swung the door open, flashlights on their phones lighting up the crash site well enough for them to see. They traversed the site quickly, finding a utility box that had been opened and ransacked, and a small stash of food, some of which looked like it had been torn apart by some wildlife.

Carisi was the first to see the dead body of the pilot, sheared in half and lifeless. It was decomposing already and it smelled terrible, but he pushed past it and crawled into the small opening of the plane. He spotted items belonging to both of them, but it was clear that they had left the site some time ago.

Amanda called up to him and he slid out of the plane, holding Barba's jacket in his hand and Liv's purse in the other.

"They must have taken off."

"Maybe they made it out of here?"

Carisi gave Amanda a skeptical look along with Fin. She was trying to sound hopeful, but their hope had dwindled upon discovering they weren't even there to being with. It was disappointing and scary, but they had to keep going forward. It was clear they weren't going to get anymore done that night, though. The pilots had been eager to get out of the air and over to another private air strip that was awaiting their arrival, in a small town just a few miles south out of here.

"We'll mark this on a map and be back in the morning. We're useless out here at night."

They all agreed to leave, grabbing both Liv's and Barba's personal items to bring with them to whatever hotel they decided to crash in for the night. They would be back tomorrow morning, hopefully, before the snow storm arrived.

* * *

It was early in the morning the next time he opened his eyes.

And it was with the sound of rustling leaves, crunching under the weight of something heavier than a squirrel or a racoon. He blinked a few times and then his heart seized in his chest when the thought of another bear entered his mind. He froze and kept his head level with Liv's. The arm around her tightened when she stirred and her sleepy brown eyes locked with his.

Her lips parted, hearing the sound and the hand that was between their chests grabbed a fistful of his shirt, fear paralyzing them both. His mind immediately thinking of the worst-case scenario. They were effectively blocked in against this giant dirt wall, in this little ditch. Liv couldn't run and he couldn't fight off an 800-pound animal with his fists.

The crunching grew louder and he could feel his heart stop when the sun glaring down on them became blocked, shrouding them in a shadow. He closed his eyes, his body shaking against Liv's, who's lip was trembling and her eyes clouded with fear.

They stayed that way until the shadow spoke words, loitered with a thick, gruff, country accent.

"Y'all need some help?"

Rafael nearly sobbed in relief at the two men who stood above him and Liv.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I finally updated this fic! It's been a while! I've been stuck on Paraiso Perdido, but I was able to punch this sucker out! Over 7k words?! Holy cannoli. I'm sorry if this chapter seems jumpy. I wrote it out of order and in different sections, but I tried to make it flow the best I could. I've got another chapter or two left of this fic before it wraps up. I hope you guys like it! I don't own SVU or its characters. ENJOY!

The truck they sat in rocked back and forth violently as it traveled through the rugged terrain of the forest. The ground was comprised of lumps of dirt, twigs, and rocks and it wasn't the most pleasant to travel over, but it was better than being on foot.

Rafael held Liv close as they drew closer to a small cabin, nestled deeper into the woods than they ought to be, but Rafael was desperate for some water and food and, possibly, a shower if they were lucky. Although, he wouldn't count on that. He just hoped they had the supplies they said they did to help Liv's ankle. She sat between his legs in the bed of the truck, one hand fisting the material of his pants and the other holding her knee, trying to keep her ankle somewhat stable with all the bumping and jostling around.

She shivered a little and he wrapped her up tighter in his arms. The sun was up, but the air was cold and biting and Rafael could make out the silhouette of a cabin just a few miles in front of them. He looked over the side of the truck, realizing they were on an actual dirt road. He wondered if these two guys lived out there, or just owned the property. They were hunters, for sure. They wore camouflage and were carrying rifles when they helped them up and over to their pickup parked just feet away. They seemed nice enough.

"God, I hope they have a phone," Liv groaned, leaning her head back on his shoulder and pressing her face into his neck. He rubbed her arm, helping her to ward off the chill and provide her comfort. She needed Advil and an ice pack for her ankle as soon as possible.

"I'm sure they do," he said reassuringly, hoping he was right. The possibility that they didn't had to be very slim. Who didn't have a cell phone nowadays?

They came to a lurching stop just outside of the small cabin. Above it, smoke curled into the air, which was a sign of heat and electricity. It had to be. Rafael sat up a little, keeping his hold on Liv as the younger man stepped out, cigarette between his lips. Ronnie. He was a gruff looking man, looking to be maybe just a year or two younger than him. He had a thick beard with dark, greying hair, and a scar that started from the right side of his forehead, across his nose and curled down to the left side of his upper lip. He looked menacing, but the smile on his face and his friendly tone begged to differ.

"This is it," he said and went around the back, unlocking the door of the bed. Ronnie climbed up and together with Rafael, brought Liv up to a standing position with ease. She winced when her ankle knocked against Ronnie's knee and the man was quick to wrap an arm around her waist. Liv tensed up and leaned away, thanking him and leaned back into Rafael.

"Let's get you down, darlin'. Pops! Get the door, would ya?"

The other man, Chet, climbed out and shuffled towards the cabin. He was old and he was slow, with a long, grey beard and swimming in an outfit that looked too big for him. He had a hunting knife attached to his hip and he looked more menacing than his son, if that was possible. He didn't have that wide smile that Ronnie had. He wore a frown and a glare that could turn you to ash.

Ronnie jumped down from the bed and Rafael helped her move to the edge, coming to a stop when he realized how difficult it was going to be to get her down. She realized it too, and was trying to formulate a plan in her head.

"Maybe if I sit," she said and kneeled down until she was sitting, keeping her ankle hovering in the air. Rafael was about to climb down himself when Ronnie surged forward and lifted Liv into his arms. She yelped in pain as her ankle was jostled, but Ronnie laughed through an apology and whisked her off. She looked incredibly uncomfortable and found Rafael's eyes as he carried her into the cabin.

Rafael knit his brows together, the action not settling well with him and he hopped off the truck, racing after her. Inside, he set her down on the sofa, "Here ya are. Let's get that ankle propped up. Looks swollen."

Liv nodded and smiled tightly. She wasn't a fan of being manhandled, that was for sure, but it got her in the house and her ankle resting after a pillow and an ice pack were gifted to her. Rafael sat next to her, taking a look around the cabin. It was cold in here, despite the fire that was going in the fire place, and there were no lights. Right off the bat, his idea about a phone and electricity were shot down with startling force. He sighed, looking around at the outdated décor. It was a little stuffy in there as well, and not very well lived in it seemed. However, that couldn't have been the case. They had given them their entire life story on the way there, and they didn't seem like the type to lie.

Of course, they were strangers and neither him or Liv were in the position to judge their character as of yet.

"Get chased by a bear?"

Rafael looked up at Ronnie, who was slipping off his jacket. "How did you know?"

"It's gettin' cold. They're comin' out. We're gonna have a snow storm tonight. At least, that's what the radio said, but the air ain't cold enough for it. We might get a few inches at least. Nothin' to worry about. Hey, ya'll want some coffee?"

They both perked up at that and he laughed, noticing their keen interest. "Let me set ya up with some." Ronnie shuffled into the kitchen and went about opening and closing cabinets, pulling out a coffee tin, some filters, a funnel and a few cups. Rafael watched the process, wondering how on Earth either of these men got away with no electricity.

"How did ya'll get stuck way out here anyway?"

Liv exchanged a glance with Rafael before she piped up, "Our plane crashed maybe a few miles from here?"

"Oh," Ronnie said, dumping some sugar into the steaming cups before he brought it to them, "I heard about somethin' like that on the news. Only found one body. Said they couldn't find the other two but guess ya'll made it out alive. That's wild! How did ya manage that?"

"Pure luck," he said, sipping the coffee gratefully. He wished there was cream and less sugar, but he would take it. Too sweet coffee was better than none. He sighed as he felt himself start to warm up a bit. Sleeping in bitter cold with no cover, no jacket, no blanket was not the greatest. His joints felt stiff and he felt like he was frozen to the core. He was almost positive the reason they didn't have frost bite was because they kept huddled together and were kept from the full force of the cold winds blowing the night before.

"Must be. Man, I bet ya'll are happy to be outta that weather."

"Yeah," Liv started, "Is there any way you have a cell phone?"

"No, I'm afraid not sweetheart," he smiled at her and took off the hat he'd been wearing. He was a big man, now that Rafael was observing him. He had a beer belly, but he was muscular and strong. You could tell just by looking at him. "No phones or electricity out here. There's a town about an hour and a half from here."

"Really? Could you give us a ride there? We really need to check in with our friends. They're searching for us."

Ronnie sucked his teeth and moved over to one of the windows. He glanced up at the sky and shook his head, "Nah. Probably not tonight. But, how about ya'll let me feed you, clean ya up, and then we can head out to town first thing in the mornin'? I'm sure your family's worried sick about ya. You two married?"

They looked at each other and shook their head, but they were both quick to correct him.

"Dating," they said in unison and Ronnie nodded, looping his thumbs into his belt loops as he stared at them. Liv did her best not to furrow her brows at the action, finding it weird. She didn't want to come off as ungrateful for the men who had brought them here, providing them with shelter. She looked away from Ronnie's unwavering look and cleared her throat.

"Do you have a bathroom, by chance?"

"We got an outhouse in the back," he said and pointed towards the back door. "I can carry you out there, if your boyfriend here doesn't mind."

Liv shook her head, quick to refuse the suggestion as Ronnie walked over to them. He looked too excited at the prospect of carrying her again and she was not about to let that happen. Rafael noticed too, and stood up, offering her a hand.

"I can walk. Rafael can help me but thank you."

"Just out the door and to the right."

She nodded at him gratefully and when they were outside, Liv walking with some difficulty, she was somewhat relieved. She wasn't going to voice the weird vibes she got from him to Rafael just yet. She just wanted to focus on getting out of there first thing in the morning. She was desperate to make it to a place with electricity and a phone, so she could call Rollins and Fin and Carisi and her son.

"No electricity," Rafael muttered and opened the door to the outhouse. They were both assaulted with the smell. Liv turned her head and took deep gulps of fresh air. "Jesus. Smells like rotting corpses in there."

"God, please, don't. I have nothing in my stomach to throw up."

"Here," he helped her up into the outhouse and left the door cracked, walking away at her insistence to give her some sort of privacy. He sighed, braving the cold winds and walked towards a little shed that sat atop a paved platform. In front of it, there was a small wooden table, that was stained with dark spots, and a plethora of clean tools next to it. Cleavers, saws, machetes…the works. Things hunters used, he supposed. He looked towards the cracked door of the shed and walked towards it. He narrowed his eyes, trying to catch of glimpse of what was inside, but before he could walk any farther, the back door of the house swung open and Ronnie stepped out, a mean look on his face.

Rafael stepped back, taken aback by the sudden angry look, but it was replaced with one of those big smiles again. They were beginning to look creepy.

"Like my nice setup? Got all I need for my deer. You ever go huntin'?"

"Uh, no," he said. Ronnie came down the steps and passed by him after glancing at the outhouse door. "I grew up in the city. Not much hunting going on out there unless it's for criminals." He walked into the shed but kept speaking.

"I'll never understand how people can live in those places. Surrounded by metal. There's no fields or woods out there. I grew up out in Missouri. Lived in 'Bama for a bit. Just a country boy."

Rafael nodded, only partially listening. He looked to the outhouse to see if Liv had come out yet, but to no avail. He was about to go knock on the door, but Ronnie kept him rooted in place as he looked back at him, closing the shed door behind him. He was carrying a tub of bloody meat and Rafael tried not to seem grossed out.

"So, how long have you and your lady been datin'?"

He was caught off guard by the question and it took him a moment to recover. He pulled some number out of the air instead of being truthful with him. This man may be sheltering them, but he didn't need to know the whole truth about who they were. The only info they'd given him so far were their names.

"Six months."

"Half way to a year? Congratulations. Ya'll look like you're really in love," Ronnie smiled. He dumped the meat out on the wooden table and threw the bucket into the grass. "She's a beauty, that one. Hey, if for reason things don't work out, tell her she can come find me. I'll show her a real good time."

Rafael stared wide eyed at him, trying to process what he had just said. Ronnie chuckled heartily and looked past him, waving at Liv to come over and join them as she exited the outhouse. He glanced over his shoulder and went to help her, noticing she was having just a little more difficulty than before.

"Why don't ya'll go inside and rest for a bit while I get dinner started. We're having my specialty tonight!"

* * *

Their hope was dwindling by the hour. It was cold with the helicopter doors open and the wind whipping through it, but it was necessary to see. They had been in the skies since noon, and it was nearing five now. They'd already refueled twice, and there wasn't going to be a third time. The pilots needed to let the engine cool and the snow was starting flurry.

Which meant, they were going to have to call it a night soon, and that didn't bode well for this search. They'd spotted three bears in the vicinity of the crash today, and no reports from the surrounding buildings, ranger stations, or towns siting either or both of them. It was fraying their nerves and it was forcing them to try and retain some sort of hope and thought that they were going to find their Lieutenant and ADA.

"We need to head back."

Amanda looked up towards the pilots, where the grainy voice came from over the headset. She wanted to bite back at them and tell them they could keep going, but they were going to have no choice. The pilots knew the weather and had been patient with them, despite their insistence to comb over the surrounding areas over and over again.

"Five minutes?"

The pilots exchanged a look before they answered begrudgingly, "Five minutes."

She looked at them gratefully and then looked at Carisi and Fin. Both of them wore the same tired, exhausted, hopeless look, bundled in jackets and hats and gloves. She gave them a sad smile and looked away, unable to give them sort of motivation they needed not to give up. She leaned her head out, feeling the crick in her neck returning as they flew through the air, circling around and around. The unfriendly reminder that their five minutes was up was when they changed course and flew away from the wreckage.

"We're gonna have to call the Chief. He wants an update," Fin said, loud enough so they could both hear him over the noise. She barely nodded, keeping her eyes glued to the trees they flew over. They were still hovering above the tree line, since the clouds were thick and low. The snow was beginning to pick up, but she could still see the trees and the grounds below.

"Lucy wants an update, too. So does Barba's mom."

Amanda didn't acknowledge Carisi's voice, and instead just chose to keep her eyes glued to the passing forest floor. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time. She wanted to go home and get warm and wish none of this shit never happened. She wished she hadn't taken the call for this case and she wished Liv wasn't so damn stubborn and boarded a plane with Barba to go threaten this guy back to New York City.

She wished…

"Shit," she whispered, leaning further in her seat to make sure she was seeing things correctly, "There's a cabin right there."

She pointed at small wooden structure, seeing a trail of smoke billowing out from a chimney. It looked run down, but it was obvious there was someone living in it. There was a large, camouflaged tarp covering something big in the front, and she deduced it had to be a car of a boat. Something big.

"A cabin? I didn't think anyone lived out here."

"Coordinates! What are the coordinates?"

The pilot took a few seconds longer than she would have liked, but he rattled them off to her as she kept her eyes peeled. Carisi was writing them down or tapping them into his phone, because he read them back slowly, Fin assisting them. He was leaning over, trying to get a good look, but he was too far over, and the copter was moving too fast for him to catch a glimpse.

Amanda did, though. And, for some reason, she could feel her hope being restored the farther away they flew from the tiny cabin. If there was any shot at getting their hope back…that had to be it.

"Do ya'll by chance have a truck we could borrow? One that can travel through dirt and trails?"

Amanda smiled at them when the both looked back at her.

* * *

They spent the better part of five hours talking quietly and flipping through various books they had on the shelf. Rafael couldn't keep focused on anything, his mind going back and forth over the events of the past two days. Liv was napping silently next to him, curled under a blanket with her foot propped up and an ice pack covering her ankle. Chet, the old man, sat at the table, caring into the wooden table with his large knife and Ronnie was outside, cooking the meat he declared his specialty.

It was boring as hell without electricity, but he couldn't complain. They could still be outside, freezing their asses off in the cold or being eaten alive by a bear for all he knew. He should be grateful for having a few hours of being bored in a warm cabin, away from the elements. He would have preferred if they had not been stuck with two weird men, but that was how it was.

He was still replaying what Ronnie said over in his head, and he found himself unsettled by it. He'd heard men say things about Liv before. Compliments that were inappropriate and some men even had the balls to go up to her and blatantly hit on her when they had their work nights at Forlini's, something that bothered him endlessly, but the way Ronnie had said it…

Ronnie, in general, set him on edge. There was something off about him. Something he didn't like. He wondered if Liv felt it, too. She didn't seem to want him near her, especially after he got too close for comfort earlier, when he carried her into the cabin. It made him slightly worried that this man seemed to have an infatuation for her.

She stirred next to him and woke up with a yawn. Her head had been resting on his shoulder and she turned her face into his neck. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side, kissing her forehead. He could tell she was still in slight pain when she moved her leg just the slightest and her face contorted into a wince.

"You ok?"

"Yeah," she answered sleepily, "Exhausted. How long did I sleep for?"

"Two hours, maybe? Hard to tell. No clocks. I can't read the sky like these people can."

She snorted and kissed his neck and he shivered pleasantly, feeling something other than worry and unsettled for the first time that day. God, he wished they were back at home, in her apartment, cuddled up under a blanket. He wanted so desperately to hold her and kiss her and tell her everything he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't. Not here. Not in this fucked up situation. He wanted it to be special and not when some creepy guy named Ronnie was outside cooking up some weird smelling meat he didn't even want to eat.

He would tell her when they got home. When they were back in the city, in their homes, with clean clothes and showers and after a full day of sleep, he would tell her just how much she meant to him.

"You didn't sleep?"

"Can't. It's too quiet."

"Oh, you're one of those people," she joked. He smiled. He was glad to hear her cracking a joke. It provided them just a small smidgen of normalcy in this abnormal place they were in.

"Yeah, you got a problem?"

"No. It'll make sleeping over at your place easy. I need noise."

His heart sped a bit at that and he pulled back, smiling down at her sleepy face, "I would prefer if we slept at your place. You probably have actual food in your apartment."

"I do. Juice boxes and fruit snacks galore. But, we don't have that nice whirlpool bathtub you were hyping up."

"I can do with a regular shower."

She smiled against his neck and he kissed her forehead again, hoping beyond hope they could stay like this for a little while longer, but Ronnie was coming through the back door with a platter full of steaming, grilled meet and he wanted to groan when she pulled away from him. He did notice how immediately she tensed up, but he didn't question her about it.

"Dinner is served! Wake up sleepy heads!"

He helped Liv to stand after Ronnie waved them over for the third time, and sat her in a chair, propping her leg up on a vacant one with the ice pack. It looked like it was helping with the swelling, and she confirmed that it felt better. He reluctantly sat down next to her and placed a plate in front of here, hoping he didn't look put off by the meat. Fortunately, Ronnie had stirred up some box mashed potatoes and grilled a mixed of vegetables that would get them through till tomorrow.

"Pops," Ronnie said to the old man already chomping on some meat, "Why don't you close the curtains, yeah? Set a nice mood for us."

The old man grumbled but got up, dropping the meat on to the plate, leaving them alone with Ronnie. He looked so eager, pointing out which cuts of meat were better than others. He emphasized that all of it was good, but Rafael was barely paying attention, and he didn't think Liv was either. He played with the edge of the old placemat under his plate, willing the man to shut up so they could eat something and go back to sleep.

About halfway through Ronnie's explanation, a distant sound caught his ear over the man's voice. He looked up at the ceiling, turning his head to the left. It was a familiar sound…but he couldn't quite place it. He looked to Liv, who noticed it as well. It captured Ronnie's attention as well as Chet's, and all four of them stopped to listen to the sound that was coming closer in the distance. Finally, it was Liv who opened her mouth, sitting up when she realized what it was.

"Is that a helicopter?"

Rafael stood and walked swiftly to one of the windows, but was cut short by Chet, who stepped in front of the window and shoved the curtains closed. Rafael felt a chill run down his spine at the look on the man's face when he turned around, only illuminated by the fire and the lamps.

"What are you doing?"

Chet didn't say anything. He just stood there, beady eyes boring into Rafael's. From across the cabin, Ronnie's chair screeched, and he cleared his throat, "Food's gettin' cold."

Liv suddenly tensed up at the cold tone of voice, and all of her senses immediately went on high alert. She swallowed the lump growing in her throat when Ronnie captured her gaze and, very slowly, licked his lips. She looked away, willing herself to keep calm.

"Yeah, well I heard a helicopter. That could be our friends looking for us."

"Ain't no copter out there," Chet spit, hands curling into fists. Rafael, despite the eerie feeling settling into his gut, shook his head and turned towards the front door, just a few, short feet from him. Chet, surprisingly fast, blocked his path again and pulled the hunting knife from its holster. It glinted as he swung it up between them. Rafael took two steps back.

"You're hearin' one of them wind power machines over yonder. Makes all kinds a crazy noises. No copters fly out here over these parts. Ain't nothin' to see out there but trees. Pops, put that knife away. Crazy old coot."

Chet grunted and shoved the knife back in its holster, but didn't move from the door. Ronnie continued, "Now c'mon and eat. Deer meat don't taste nothin' good when it's cold now. Darlin', get your boyfriend over here to come and eat. I'm sure both of ya'll are starvin'."

Rafael turned to see Liv looking at him, cold dread in her eyes that put him immediately on edge. She never looked like this for no good reason. He remembered that look from the trial of William Lewis, when he was finally able to put the bastard away, but she had to endure all those hours of listening to him talk. She looked that way after being stuck in that townhouse for so long, with guns in her face and a family she was trying to protect. Rarely did she ever look like how she did right now, eyes wide and pleading with him.

"I'm sure they're right. I mean they do live out here," she said, her voice sounding so calm and smooth and reassuring. She was a good actress. She was able to mask the waver that would normally be there. Behind her, Ronnie smiled and nodded his head, sitting down in the chair again. "Rafael, c'mon. Let's eat. I know you're hungry."

He glanced back at Chet, who was still glowering at him, standing in front of the door. He hesitated, but knew he had no other option to rejoin Liv at the table. The whirring noise of a helicopter (or a wind machine thing) had passed by now, leaving him no point to even try and fight his way outside. Even if he did, what would that accomplish? Being thrown out into the woods with Liv's sprained ankle and nothing to guide them back to the plane wreckage? He wouldn't do that to either of them.

He slowly walked back to the table and took a seat next to Liv, squeezing her shoulder as he sat. She reached up and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers and holding it in her lap while Ronnie went about dishing up their plates. Chet sat down across from him and took a few long drinks of his beer, eyeing Rafael the entire time.

"Ya'll ever had deer meat? Tastes like salami. A little gamey dependin' on the way ya cook it, but a little blood never hurt nobody."

* * *

The sun had gone down, drawing pitch black over the cabin like a blanket, and with it, brought falling snow. The activity outside grew louder and restless as the nocturnal animals arose from their slumber and ventured out for food. Rafael peered out between the curtains into the night, squinting as the truck's headlights pulled in his direction for a moment, before coming to a stop in front of the house. Ronnie climbed out with a cigarette between his mouth and his rifle in one hand. He had left just an hour earlier, saying something about filling up the truck and getting some much-needed supplies for the next day. Wherever he had gone, it had left him and Liv alone with Chet, who paid them no attention at all, which was fine with them anyway.

Rafael watched him throw the tarp back over the truck and disappear around the back of the cabin before he pulled away and settled back into the sofa. Liv sat next to him, with her leg propped up on the coffee table, on a pillow, with a book on hunting in her lap. There wasn't much to do but sit there and wait, and they were both anxious to get out of there in the morning, on the road like Ronnie said they would. The sooner they were both back in the city, safely in the lobby of a police precinct, the better. He was actually looking forward to seeing Rollins and Finn, and hell, even Carisi, and that wasn't something he had ever thought before.

"Quit fidgeting," she whispered, bringing one of her hands to rest over his, that was pulling at a string over and over hanging from his button down. He sighed quietly and watched Chet carving a bar of soap with that damn hunting knife. There were a ton of carved up bars, morphed into little shapes, sitting on almost every available ledge and shelf the room had to offer. It made that eerie feeling from earlier return.

"Sorry," he whispered back, taking his eyes off Chet and turning them to the ceiling, tracing the cracked paint, "I just want to get out of here and back home."

Liv closed the book and set it on the arm of the sofa, lacing their fingers and settling their joined hands into her lap. "I do, too. Believe me. Ronnie said we'd head into the city, first thing in the morning."

Rafael pursed his lips and turned his gaze towards her. He hadn't wanted to bring it up, hoping to bury the feeling, especially after the look on her face earlier that had struck a chord in him. However, the look she was giving him now didn't convince him that she believed the words coming out of her mouth. That slight downturned corner of her mouth spoke volumes to him. If she had been thinking the same thing he had been thinking, then they both had gotten the vibe from him earlier that something was off.

"Do you believe that? Really?" He brought his face closer to hers and lowered his voice even further. Chet seemed deaf, but there was no telling if he truly was. He didn't want to risk the man hearing him and then telling Ronnie, just in case.

Liv sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, obviously not wanting to say. He shook their joined hands, forcing her to speak.

"I don't know. He's weird. He keeps…looking at me. Like…like a man who doesn't take no for an answer."

He sucked in a breath, that eerie feeling catapulting into full grown fear. He fisted the material of his jeans and squeezed her hand. She patted his forearm, knowing what he was thinking through in his head. "I don't know whether or not to believe him but…if he doesn't hold up his end tomorrow, we leave on foot."

"Liv, your ankle," he gestured to her propped up foot but she cut him off with a stern look that brooked no room for argument.

"We leave on foot. We will find our way out of this if we have to do it ourselves."

He wanted to argue. He wanted to fight back against her stern, no bullshit, Lieutenant's tone, but there was no point. If she was set on something, then there was no convincing her otherwise, even if they had to walk through inches of snow. She knew he didn't like the idea of it coming to that, but there was no way they were staying here any longer than they had to.

He nodded at her just as Ronnie was coming in through the back door, cigarette gone from his mouth and a large cooler in his arms. He grunted as he unceremoniously sat it down on the ground, shaking the table with how heavy it was. He and Chet exchanged a look before he smiled widely at them and trudged further into the room. His boots were so loud against the hard wood floor and Rafael's stomach lurched when his smile softened as he looked at Liv. He looked like a predator.

"Truck's gassed up and ready to hit the road in the mornin'. I bet ya'll are ready to see your friends and family again."

Rafael didn't speak but Liv nodded politely, keeping a brave front even if he could her tense under Ronnie's gaze.

"Well, it's pretty late and since we plan on leavin' early on, we should all get some rest. Couch pulls out into a bed, so ya'll can lay out here. We got an extra bed in the spare room back here, Livy, if you wanted to be more comfortable with your foot and all," Ronnie gestured to the hallway.

"No," she said immediately, waving her hand, "No, I'll be fine out here with Rafael. I sleep better next to him, anyway."

She was good at lying. So good, it sounded wholly sincere. Ronnie's smile faltered a little but he didn't let it fall. Instead, he shot Rafael a look and nodded, "Well, then I'm gonna take a shower and get to bed. Ya'll holler if you need somethin', ok?"

"Will do," she said, resting her head on Rafael's shoulder. Ronnie followed the action and this time, his smile did fade. He glanced at Rafael again, and there was an unmistakable glint in the man's eyes. One that was dangerous and set him on edge. Liv tightened her hold on his hand, noticing it as well.

"Pops," Ronnie said roughly and turned away, "Get to bed."

His boots echoed down the hall until the back door slammed shut, drowning them in silence. After a minute, Chet set down his soap and holstered his knife, and shut out the kitchen light without sparing them a glance. They waited until the sound of Chet's door closed as well before they moved.

"Jesus," Rafael muttered, "Did you see the way he looked at you?"

Liv scoffed, "Did you see the way he looked at _you_? Like he was going to kill you."

"Don't remind me," he said. He moved and she lifted her head and let his hand go, standing on her sprained ankle. It still hurt like hell, but icing it had helped. She was able to bear some weight on it, which was good, considering the idea that they were going to have to leave tomorrow on foot was looking more and more likely.

She helped as much as she could with moving the coffee table out of the way and unfolding the sofa out into a bed, but ended up standing with her injured ankle and foot off the ground, unfolding a blanket that had been hanging over the sofa. They would have to go without pillows, because there was no way either of them were planning on asking Ronnie for extras.

As Rafael threw down the blankets and kicked his shoes off, Liv eyed the large cooler Ronnie had carried in from outside. It was huge and old, with rust colored stains on the dirty, white lid, that resembled blood. She supposed it was fresh meat they had been icing and were planning on cooking, but the sight sent another cold chill through her body. The idea of them skinning and slicing an animal, draining its blood…it made her sick to her stomach. The fact that she ate little to nothing of the deer meat from earlier probably didn't help.

Rafael hadn't either, and she wondered how on Earth either of those men could have compared that odd tasting meat to salami.

"Liv? You ok?"

She realized she had been staring off into space, long enough for Rafael to crawl into bed, holding the blanket back for her expectantly. She spun on her other foot and sat, being careful to lift her leg onto the bed. Rafael had grabbed the pillow she was using earlier and the ice pack, returning it gingerly to her swollen ankle, and then covering them both with the quilts.

"Thank you, for everything," she said quietly, sincerely. He settled next to her on his side and folded his arm under his head, looking at her. The porch light outside bled through the crack in the curtains, allowing them just enough light that they could see each other's faces. The rest of the room was pitch black and quiet.

"We got into this mess together, we'll get out of it together," he reminded her, bringing his fingers up to stroke her cheek. She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling. She turned her head and kissed his wrist, bringing her hand up to hold it there.

"Actually, Ralph got us into this mess, God rest his soul."

"Terrible way to go. But we made it out together."

She smiled at him and leaned forward, kissing his lips. He smiled against them and pulled away, running his thumb across her chin and jaw. Her smile fell after a few seconds.

"I miss Noah."

He nodded, pushing some stray hair away from her eyes, "You'll see him soon. We'll make sure of it."

"I know…"

Rafael moved closer and tucked the blankets around them more securely. Liv turned into him the best she could without moving her ankle and hid her face in his chest while he wrapped her up in his arms. They were asleep within minutes.

* * *

"Your hunch better be right, Rollins. I was not made for this kind of shit."

Fin grumbled from the passenger seat as Amanda weaved her way through the dirt path that was meant for smaller vehicles than a big truck to drive through. Amanda cocked a smile, feeling confident that they were about to find both Liv and Rafael, holed up in this cabin. She had no reason to think they would be there, but her gut was telling her good things, and she was always keen on listening to her gut when it had something to say.

"Just keep your eyes peeled. This navigation system is wonky at best. Better to use good old eyesight."

She wasn't so jazzed about having to do this under the cover of night fall with snow on the ground, but they needed at least two hours of sleep, a few hot showers and some food before they decided to head back out into the forest. It took them an hour to even make it this far into the woods, and they still had another estimated twenty minutes until they would arrive. Plus, the phone call with the Chief ate up some time as well, having to explain the situation they were faced with and being berated because they were going out, in a cold forest, after dark, with a truck, down roads that weren't meant to be driven on with a vehicle of their size. He had put up a good argument, but even the Chief knew better than to fight them on this issue.

Liv and Barba were in danger as far as they were all concerned. They needed to be thorough and Dodds was able to rally together some search teams through the local P.D.'s in the area that would set out tomorrow morning if their search turned up negative. They were all hoping it wouldn't come to that, but this wasn't a sure thing.

Carisi popped his head out from the back, eyeing the small screen that displayed the coordinates of where they were headed, their truck eating the bright yellow line as they went. "Look, they're both smart. Chances are that if they found this place, they would set up camp. If they didn't…then I'm sure they found some cover somewhere."

Amanda chose to ignore the hesitation in his voice when he voiced the second option, and instead changed the subject. "How's Noah and Lucia."

"Mrs. Barba showed up at the precinct and threatened bodily harm to one of the temp detectives unless someone gave her info. Dodds talked her down and apparently, Jen in TARU overheard him asking her if he could buy her dinner while they were leaving the 1-6."

"Hell no," Fin muttered with a smirk, and Amanda waved off that info in favor of hearing about Noah.

"Noah's doing ok. Asking a lot of questions. He wants to see Liv or at least talk to her. Lucy's nerves are a little frayed. I'm trying to calm her down right now."

"Tell her to keep calm. Did you check in with Belinda, too?"

"Yeah, she said Jesse's doing fine. Put her down about two hours ago." Good. That was good. She had been thinking about her little girl all day, since this was the first time she'd been away for an extended period of time. It was going on Day 3 since they'd been out there.

"Everything's good at home," Fin said quietly, and then, "But it'll be even better when we find these two assholes."

"You got that right," Carisi said and leaned back into the backseat, answering another incoming text. Amanda agreed silently while keeping her eyes on the road. She hoped beyond hoped her hunch was right. It just had to be.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of gravel crunching outside and he sat up, blinking the sleep away with bleary eyes.

Rafael looked down to see Liv was still fast asleep, the blankets tucked up under her chin. Her leg had moved from the pillow in the middle of the night and the ice pack was melting, creating a wet stain on the sheet that covered the sofa bed mattress. He looked behind him as bright lights shined through the curtains and he turned around on his knees, moving them just out of the way so he could see.

He narrowed his eyes, seeing the headlights of another truck pulling up beside Ronnie's tarp covered one. It was hard to see with the porch light on, and his eyes were beginning to ache with the brightness. He cursed and crawled over Liv, being careful not to wake her in favor of getting a better view.

The front door had a glass, covered by a small curtain that he easily moved out of the way. The snow had stopped falling over night, leaving just a small bit on the ground and covering the porch and the tarp covered car. He waited silently, eyes watching as the car remained on, but the door swung open. Fear crawled up his spine, hoping Ronnie hadn't forgotten to mention a few more friends that lived here as well. He didn't think he could take more than he already had handled from the two men that lived here.

But, fear ebbed away to gut churning happiness when he saw the unmistakable face of Amanda Rollins hoping out of the truck. The door on the other side opened, and he could see through the light in the car, that both Fin and Carisi were with her. He opened his mouth and let out a shuddering breath, excitement coursing through his veins so hard his hands began to shake.

He reached for the handle of the front door and the deadbolts that kept it locked but froze when a sharp knife came to rest against his Adam's apple and a large hand covered his nose and mouth. Hot breath cascaded across the side of his face and a thick beard scratched against his neck. Ronnie's voice followed into his ear, keeping him from moving any further. His mind went blank.

"Don't even think about it."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so sorry I've been so absent lately! I've been so incredibly busy that writing fic just gets pushed to the back burner. I found some extra time and tried my best to punch this one out for you guys! It's not the best, but it's something. I'm trying! I really am! I hope you guys like it. I don't own svu or its characters. Enjoy!

"Don't even think about it."

The next thing he knew, there was a needle in his neck and Liv was stirring on the bed beside him. Ronnie pushed his head back against his shoulder, tightening the hold around his mouth. He wanted to flail and kick out of it, but he was frozen as the knife drew delicately across his Adam's apple and towards his jugular vein.

"Pops," Ronnie said, just loud enough that it woke Liv from her slumber. He glanced over at her, barely able to see her face out of the corner of her eye as she shifted and woke, staring up at the ceiling before she was alerted to their presence. The sharp intake of breath told him she saw the predicament and the way she sat up slowly, but didn't try and stand, told him she saw the knife pressed against his neck.

"One slice and he bleeds out," Ronnie directed towards her. Rafael trembled at the malice in his tone and nearly stumbled over his feet when Ronnie walked backwards with him. Chet passed by them with his rifle, pointed directly at Liv, who raised her hands but still didn't move. Ronnie pushed him back towards the fold out couch and he caught himself with his hands and a knee, looking wildly around at both of the men.

"If either of them moves or say anything, shoot 'em in the head, dad," Ronnie eyed them both and sheathed the long, sharp knife in the back of his pants, pulling his button shirt over it. Chet waved the gun at him towards Liv and he swiftly crawled up next to her, where she grabbed for him, yet never taking her eyes off the old man.

* * *

"Ya'll lost?"

Amanda was immediately put off by the man standing on the porch. First, he was barefoot, standing on a thin layer of snow and cold wood, and didn't look the least bit affected. Second, he was oddly chipper for one in the morning, which wouldn't have bothered her if he hadn't been wearing a fake smile when he greeted them. Lastly, his aura was giving her weird vibes. Like, supremely weird vibes that she only ever got from cho-mos and murderers who weren't sorry for their crimes.

It also irked her that they hadn't even made it onto the porch before he was standing outside in front of them. The front door was cracked open behind him, producing no light, leaving them unable to see if there were any other occupants with him.

"Hi, I'm Detective Amanda Rollins with the NYPD," she greeted with a smile. Her poker face was fairly good, and there was no reason for this man to think she was bothered by all of these things. Her senses were on high alert, and it was hard to suppress the urge to question the hell out of him because they were there for other reasons.

"NYPD? You realize this is New Hampshire, little darlin'?"

Her smile dropped a little, "Yeah, well, my fellow detectives and I are looking for a few friends? I don't know if you heard about the plane crash- "

"Yeah, we heard. Terrible thing. Radio said one dead and two missin'. Must a been your friends I take it?"

She nodded, "Yeah. We've been looking for them for a few days but haven't found anything. Have you seen anyone by chance? Heard anything?"

"No," he shook his head and leaned against the railing of the stairs. Amanda watched the older man, keenly aware of the body language. He was a difficult man to read. "If they are alive, somehow, they won't make it another night in this mess. Either the weather or the bears will get 'em."

"Bears?" Carisi, who had been standing back with Finn, walked up. The man's expression changed ever so slightly when he locked eyes with Carisi. It was so minute, had she not been a trained detective, it would have slipped by her easily.

"Yeah. We got 'em out here. They can be real nasty. I hope your friends don't run into none of them."

That wasn't an answer any of them wanted to hear. Amanda squeezed her gloved hands, looking around the outside of the cabin. "Why do you keep your car under a tarp?"

She gestured towards it and he straightened a bit, a tight-lipped smile forming, "Keep it clean. It's an old truck. Don't need it gettin' all messed up with the snow and such. Look, it's late and I'm sure you folks wanna get back into town. I got an early mornin' huntin' tomorrow so I need to get some sleep."

Amanda nodded slowly, disappointment and suspicion intermingling in her mind. There was something seriously off about this man. He was secretive and evasive; she could tell he was hiding something the moment he closed the door to his dark cabin behind him.

"Alright. Well, if you want to, we have a search party forming tomorrow in town. You seem to know the area well…maybe you could help out?"

"Sure thing. You gonna be headin' it up?"

"Yes," she nodded, her eyes still roving along the outside of the cabin. She knew Finn and Carisi were doing the same, and she had to guess they were having the same feeling she was. This man was so…odd. The way he stood outside, in strikingly cold weather, barefoot and staring at her like he wanted to eat her alive.

"Well then I'll definitely be there, darlin'."

Amanda didn't smile. She stared at him with a blank expression until he turned on his heel and bid them a goodnight. She tried seeing inside the house for the two seconds she was able to but was met with darkness. As the door shut, the hope she had dwindled, but only slightly. Something was off.

"He's weird and he's lying."

Finn's voice broke her of her thoughts and she turned to face both men. Carisi was leaning against the car, staring at the exposed tired under the tarp and Finn had his arms crossed over his chest. It was a look, one she was familiar with, he pulled when he knew someone was avoiding. He used it right before he struck.

"I know he is," she nodded and glanced back at the house, "Let's go."

* * *

"You know them?"

Ronnie waited to speak until he saw the tail lights of the car disappearing into the thick of the woods. Liv and Rafael stared down the barrel of the gun, not answering him as he came around to stand behind Chet, who was unwavering. Rafael, who had moved to sit beside Liv, clutched her hand that had wrapped around his bicep. He was the first to speak up, albeit quietly.

"Yes."

"Ya'll work with them in the city?"

He nodded and he felt Liv squeezing his arm, reminding him not to answer too many questions. How she was able to think so clearly under this kind of pressure, he wasn't sure. He was glad she was able to though, because his mind was a jumbled mess of panic and fear colliding.

"I think that dumb broad out there believed my bear theory. Ya'll make it a habit of hirin' dumb bitches in the city?"

"She's not as dumb as you think," Liv whispered, voice oddly calm despite being at a huge disadvantage. Ronnie grinned and walked up the edge of the sofa bed, knees pressing into the mattress as he leaned over. He peered at them both, his eyes just barely visible in the darkness.

"Alright," he breathed and stood back up, gesturing towards Rafael, "Let's get started."

Before both of them could even share a look, Ronnie was dragging Liv from the bed by her arm. It happened so fast, Rafael barely had time to respond. The barrel of the rifle was between his eyes. He kept his eyes trained on Chet's, seeing Ronnie struggling with Liv, who was kicking and cussing and giving one hell of a fight.

He balled his fists into the sheet as his vision began to double. He cursed internally, knowing whatever had been injected into his neck was starting to take effect. His limbs felt heavy and his eyes were beginning to close. He struggled, blinking rapidly to try and keep them open, but by the time Liv was being dragged out of sight, kicking and screaming, down the hallway, he was falling back onto the mattress, vision going black and passing out cold.

* * *

"Let go of me! Let go of me you fucking bastard!"

Liv growled when she managed to get her leg high enough to kick Ronnie in the jaw, and then yelped in pain when she was all but thrown against a large dresser in the room and his booted foot connected with her stomach. She curled up in pain, but didn't keep her eyes off of him.

"Bitch," he spit out and rubbed his jaw, reaching over to grab something off the top of the piece of furniture. She knew it was futile, but she pushed up as much as she could and tried to crawl away to put some distance between them, but he just grabbed her bad ankle and pulled her back. She struggled as he drug her across the floor, but being twice her size and with pain radiating through her legs, she struggled to even find the strength to try begin to try and get the upper hand.

"Fuck," she said as he grabbed her by the neck and hauled her up, cutting off her air supply for a second before he slammed her back against the wall. She was dazed, and her vision swam for a terrifying few more seconds. The feeling of cuffs around her wrists brought her back. She yanked at them, the steel biting into her skin as she desperately fought.

Ronnie pulled back, a disgustingly pleased look on his face as he watched her. After a moment, she stopped, realizing he was enjoying it. She blew the hair out of her face and fixed him with a deadly glare.

"God, I can't wait to lay into you," he whispered, leaning down and running a rough hand across her cheek. She turned her head, but he was faster, grabbing her jaw and yanking it back to look at him in the eye. "Be a good girl. I'll be back in a while. Dad's gonna watch you…make sure you don't try and run off and be a hero for your lil' boyfriend in there."

She stopped cold, her mind having completely blanked on Rafael.

"What are you gonna do?"

Ronnie sneered and stood up, shoving her face away. She looked back and sat up, "Don't hurt him."

"Shut up."

"Don't you dare hurt him!"

"You better shut the fuck up!" He rushed back over to her and kneeled in front of her, grabbing a handful of hair and pulling her forward until her bound wrists prevented her from moving anyway. Her arms and back burned, but she would be damned if she let him know that.

"You keep talking, and I swear to God I'll make him bleed out for days. Now keep your mouth shut and maybe I won't make you eat his tongue."

He pushed her back and stood. Liv, wide eyed, didn't say anything. She stared at him as he left the room and only when he shut the door did she collapse back against the wall. The words he left her with turned her stomach, she had to stop herself from losing what little food she had in her stomach.

… _maybe I won't make you eat his tongue._

* * *

"You're hunch better be right, Rollins."

Amanda turned back to Fin, who was shining his flashlight all around him as they walked through the woods. They were getting closer to the cabin, just barely seeing light in through the snow flurries that whipped past their faces.

"Trust me. He's hiding something. I know it has to do with Liv and Barba."

"Even so, we couldn't have parked closer?"

Carisi's words were shaky, and she did feel a little bad that he wasn't completely covered up, but she couldn't risk it. They had to walk on foot if they were going to do this. Fin scrambled up next to them, muttering something about _fucking raccoons_ , before he faced his flashlight forwards towards the snow covered trail.

"We're almost there."

Amanda pulled her coat tighter and pushed on, leading the two men back towards the cabin where she had a feeling something was amiss. She only hoped they wouldn't get there too late.

* * *

When he came to, the first thing he noticed was the unbearable, striking pain in his arms and shoulders. His vision was blurry, but when it finally became clear that he was staring a deer carcass, skinned and strung up, did he too realize his wrists were bound over his head by cuffs, attached to the ceiling of this dark, hot room.

He looked up, blinded by the light hanging over head as his feet struggled for purchase on the ground. The toes of his shoes barely grazed the concrete below him and with every movement he made, the pain in his arms increased.

How long had he been here? He looked around, seeing polished metal tables and sharp instruments. The space wasn't very big. And it was so _fucking_ hot in here. He could feel the sweat running from his scalp down the back of his shirt. He looked up, squinting into the light, noticing the red bruises circling around his wrists. He moaned in pain, wriggling around in vain.

"Fuck," he whispered, breathing harshly. God, where was Liv. The last thing he remembered was seeing her being dragged across the floor. Her screams still echoed in his head, which was still spinning from whatever the fuck was put in his system. He wondered where she was. Hopefully, still conscious and kicking someone's fucking ass right now.

"Hey there Sleepin' Beauty."

Rafael jerked at the sound of Ronnie's voice, looking around until he came into his line of sight. He was wearing an apron with rust colored stains, twirling a knife between his fingers. He shivered at the sight, which seemed impossible in such a hot room.

"I was wonderin' when you were gonna wake up. I liked watchin' you sleep, though."

Rafael didn't say anything, his breath stolen from the fear coursing through his veins.

"Where is she?"

He was proud that his voice didn't shake, but he could hear the pleading tone behind his words. Ronnie looked away and down at the knife, gripping it more firmly in his hand. When he didn't answer, Rafael pressed again, this time louder and more demanding.

"Where is she?!"

Ronnie smiled and walked closer, stopping just inches from him. Rafael could feel his eyes tracing down his body. The knife lifted and touched his skin, causing him to jump in response.

"All it would take is one cut right here," he traced the blade across the exposed skin, just above the belt. He flinched away, teeth gnashed together as he willed his anger to calm down. The urge to kick his face in was great, and although he was at the perfect advantage to do so, that almost spelled certain death. He had to buy himself some time. He had to know where Liv was.

"Your blood would drain fast and it would be easy to harvest your organs from this position," Ronnie continued, drawing the knife back across and then up, lifting the shirt as he went. The blade dragged harshly against his skin and he shivered involuntarily, closing his eyes the farther up it went. He sucked in a breath when it traced his nipple gently. Ronnie was transfixed by the sight. Eyes glazed over, mouth parted. He inched closer and Rafael bit the inside of his cheek when he felt the man's breath against his skin.

"You're a handsome man," Ronnie whispered and then suddenly, quickly, slashed the knife down the right side of his abdomen, just deep shallow enough to produce a thin line of blood that didn't seep from the wound. Rafael cried out and jumped, causing him to swing a little as his toes left the ground. Ronnie turned away and slammed the knife on the table, running a hand over his face. "You're lucky, you know. The ugly ones are easy to kill. Just slice and dice, but you…and your girlfriend? I almost…I almost wanna keep ya'll for a while. Ya'll could be like my pets. Momma never let me have pets growin' up."

Rafael watched as Ronnie cleaned the blade with a stained rag that had been used to clean it before, it looked like. Rafael was beginning to wonder if the blood belonged to _just_ deer. The answer, as Ronnie turned back to him and grinned from ear-to-ear, was looking more and more like a no. His stomach sank as the pain from the slash mark across his abdomen started to grow. It burned the closer Ronnie stepped towards him.

"You have a pet growin' up?"

Rafael didn't answer, even pursing his lips in refusal to do so. Ronnie didn't like that, and his breathing picked up as the blade came back up to trace the belt buckle. The clinking of the metal sounded so loud in his ears, combined with the harsh breaths escaping between his parting lips. He couldn't stop himself from shaking and he felt beads of sweat beginning to form on the temples of his forehead, despite the freezing temperatures outside.

"I always wanted a doggy. A black and white one. Like one a them collies. The smart ones. She woulda been my baby. But momma liked cats," he hissed, digging the tip of the knife into the leather strap of the belt. He flinched back, dragging the tips of his shoes against the concrete.

"She'd always get real sad when they went missing. Every time one would disappear, she'd get another one. We musta gone through 'bout twelve of 'em. She never knew I was the reason why they were all disappearing."

Rafael looked up, his wrists burning and his arms on fire. The cuffs were attached to a metal pipe that ran along the ceiling, and he clung to the tiniest bit of hope as he subtly tested the strength of it, feeling it dip with added weight. If he could lift his feet off the floor and tug, he could probably rip the pipe clean off. It wasn't sturdy at all. That was if Ronnie wouldn't kill him within the next few minutes.

"I'd lure them around to the back yard," Ronnie smiled and turned back to the table, his boots dragging along the wood, "Tie 'em up and do all kinds of things to 'em. Experiment. Get my hands dirty. I needed to feel the blood on my fingers. I needed to taste it…"

Rafael took a shuddering exhale, his mind running back to that platter full of meat he didn't eat at dinner. Ronnie had been adamant that they try it, but neither him nor Liv did, and he thanked God, because now he knew that wasn't deer meat. It probably wasn't even animal meat, at all.

"I always got joy out of killing animals. Cats, dogs, birds, pigs, cows…anything I could get my hands on. But nothin' compares to my first person. It was a rush like you wouldn't believe. Even now, twenty years later I still get a rush. Makes me all giddy and happy."

"Please," Rafael finally said on a shaky breath, "Please let us go."

He swallowed the lump in his throat when Ronnie turned back to look at him. The knife was still in his hand but it was at his side. Rafael felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his face. It was freezing outside, but the heaters surrounding him was making it feel like a sauna.

"We just want to go home."

Ronnie shook his head, "I can't do that. Ya'll know who I am. I have to kill you."

"No," Rafael shook his head, "No. You can let her go. Just her. You can keep me. You can kill me and eat me or whatever you want to do but…she has a son at home. He's only five. Please. If you can't let both of us go, then just let her go."

Ronnie tilted his head and considered him. Rafael watched as the man ran the blade between his fingers, the sharp tip twisting into the pad of his thumb. He stared until Ronnie met his eyes again, and he saw there, for the first time since they'd crossed paths, some sort of emotion in his eyes.

"I had a son once. He was five when he died."

Rafael nodded, urging him to continue. He had hit a spot and he was going to run with it. It was like he did in court, when he found a weak spot in a defendant and he pushed and pushed until they broke. It was a tactic that proved successful many times in the past, good or bad, and he prayed it pulled through now.

"How did he die?"

Ronnie flared his nostrils and his eyebrows furrowed, like he was trying not to cry. Rafael wondered how a man so damn giddy at the thought of killing him and eating him for breakfast the next morning, could flip and turn into a man filled with so much sorrow at the thought of his deceased child.

"Cancer. Got it when he was three. Died two days after his fifth birthday."

"I'm sorry," Rafael said softly, feeling a twinge of remorse for the man. Not enough to stop thinking about breaking the pipe nearly suspending him in the air. He glanced up and tried to alleviate some of the pressure in his arms.

"His momma took off when he was four…couldn't take it. I killed the bitch when I found her three months after his funeral."

"That's terrible…that she ran off. It must have hurt your son to lose a parent."

Ronnie nodded and Rafael continued, "You wouldn't want that to happen to another little boy, would you? Wondering when his mom was going to come home? Wondering why she never does?"

A tense silence fell between them. Rafael didn't dare move an inch as he watched emotion after emotion flit across Ronnie's face. He looked so overwhelmed after a moment, that he tossed the knife on the table and stalked towards the door.

"I need to think."

Rafael turned his body the best he could, watching Ronnie open the door to the snowy, freezing cold outside. He shivered as the blast of cold air hit his sweaty skin. Ronnie opened his mouth to say something, eyes darting across his strung-up body for a few seconds, before he shook his head and closed the shed door, the sound of the heavy locks echoing in the small room.

Rafael waited until he heard the muffled sound of the door to the house opening and shutting before he moved, using the his body weight to tug at the metal pipe over his head. It bent and creaked and screeched as he tugged on it continuously. He groaned as his arms burned and stretched, holding his weight as his feet left the floor.

Sweat and bright light burned his eyes as he watched the pipe separate from the wall little by little.


End file.
